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Ube  Century  Efcucation  Series 

PSYCHOLOGY 
AND  THE  SCHOOL 


BY 

EDWARD  HERBERT  CAMERON,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  EDUCATIONAL  PSYCHOLOGY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1922 


Copyright,  1921,  by 
The  Century  Co. 


Printed  in  U.  S.  A. 


W5 

105| 

C  '4- 


EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

All  schools  preparing  students  for  the  profession  of 
teaching,  whether  Normal  Schools  or  Colleges  of 
Education,  are  agreed  that  it  is  fundamentally  neces- 
sary for  these  students  to  take  as  an  elementary  sub- 
ject, practically  prerequisite  to  all  other  educational 
courses,  work  in  educational  psychology.  Psychology, 
as  it  is  ordinarily  taught  in  an  elementary  way,  con- 
tains little,  if  any,  special  application  to  the  problems 
of  teaching.  Indeed,  the  general  problem  of  learning 
is  approached  in  so  indefinite  a  way  in  most  of  these 
books  that  the  student  who  has  not  worked  with 
specific  courses  of  educational  psychology  is  at  a  loss 
in  the  discussion  of  specific  problems  which  have  to 
do  with  the  technique  of  teaching. 

This  volume  of  Professor  Cameron's  has  been  pre- 
pared to  meet  the  specific  needs  of  those  preparing  to 
teach.  As  it  includes  a  reasonably  comprehensive  in- 
troduction to  psychology,  it  is  possible  for  students  to 
work  with  this  book  to  advantage,  who  have  not  had 
introductory  courses  in  general  psychology.  It  has  the 
additional  advantage  of  considering  elementary  psy- 
chological principles  specifically  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  teacher  and  the  learner. 


VI  EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

Throughout  the  book,  technical  and  theoretical  dis- 
cussions are  avoided,  the  primary  purposes  of  the 
author  being  to  give  the  explanation  of  the  behavior 
of  school  children  in  terms  of  the  mental  life.  This 
volume  is  presented  in  the  belief  that  it  will  be  of 
value  to  colleges  and  normal  schools  where  there  is 
felt  to  be  little  demand  for  the  students  to  take  courses 
in  general  psychology  before  beginning  the  specific 
task  of  the  application  of  psychology  to  education. 

Charles  E.  Chadsev. 


PREFACE 

This  book  is  designed  for  students  of  education  and 
teachers  who  have  no  previous  knowledge  of  psy- 
chology. The  earlier  chapters  (I-XI)  cover  the  ground 
usually  treated  in  text-books  of  general  psychology 
but  with  the  emphasis  on  the  application  of  psy- 
chological principles  to  education.  The  remaining 
chapters  are  more  specifically  designed  to  treat  the 
applications  of  psychology  to  education  in  some  detail. 

The  book  is  written  throughout  from  the  functional 
point  of  view  though  not  leaning  to  behaviorism  in  its 
extreme  form. 

My  obligations  to  writers  are  numerous  but  I  have 
endeavored  to  give  proper  acknowledgments  in  each 
case.  I  am  under  special  obligation  to  Professor  C.  H. 
Judd,  from  whom  I  have  borrowed  directly  at  many 
points,  and  the  influence  of  whose  writings  and  teach- 
ing pervades  the  entire  book. 

My  thanks  are  also  due  to  my  colleagues,  Dean 
C.  E.  Chadsey  and  Mr.  C.  W.  Kruse,  who  have  read 
the  manuscript  and  offered  many  criticisms  and  sug- 
gestions. 

E.  H.  Cameron. 
Urbana,  111.,  Aug.  10,  1921. 

vii 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  I.    Introduction  page 

Psychology  defined — Bodily  and  mental  processes — Sen- 
sitivity, conductivity  and  contractility — Relation  of  con- 
sciousness to  these  functions — Unique  character  of  mental 
processes — Methods  of  psychology — Education  defined — 
Relation  of  education  to  psychology — Obviating  difficulties 
in  psychology 3 

Chapter  II.    The  Nervous  System 

Behavior — The  function  of  the  nervous  system — Em- 
bryonic development  of  the  nervous  system — Gross  struc- 
ture— Elementary  structure — The  sensori-motor  arc — Types 
of  sensori-motor  arcs — Localization  of  cerebral  functions — 
Physical  basis  of  intelligence — Meaning  of  infancy — Edu- 
cation and  behavior 17 

Chapter  III.    Behavior — Native  and  Acquired 

Unlearned  activities — Modification  of  instincts — List  of 
human  instincts — Fear — Curiosity — Imitation — Play — Con- 
structiveness — Ownership — Rivalry — Habit — Rules  of  habit- 
formation — Advantages  and  disadvantages  of  habit   .       .       41 

Chapter  IV.    Sensation 

Sensation  defined — Sensations  and  perceptions — Visual 
sensations — Auditory  sensations — The  static  sense — Smell 
and  taste — Sensations  of  touch,  warmth  and  cold — Mus- 
cular sensations — The  role  of  sensation 65 

i  • 
Chapter  V.    Perception 

Relation  between  sensation  and  perception — the  Muller- 
Lyer  illusion — The  relating  process  in  perception — The  in- 
fluence of  past  experiences — Space-perception — Habits  and 
perception — Perceptual  development — Apperception    .       .       86 

Chapter  VI.     Memory  and  Imagination 

The  mental  image-memory  and  imagination  defined — 
Behavior  and  mental  images — Association — Individual  dif- 
ferences in  mental  imagery — Word  imagery — Use  of  im- 
agination— Training     imagination 107 


X  CONTENTS 

Chapter  VII.    Conception  page 
Conception  defined — Abstract  ideas — Words  as  conceptual 
signs — Analysis  of  the  concept — Development  of  Concepts 
— Concept   of  self — Multiple-personality — Hypnosis — Sub- 
consciousness       127 

Chapter  VIII.    Thinking 

Reflective  thinking — Illustrations  of  problem-solving — 
Analysis  of  thinking — Training  in  thinking — Importance 
of  imagination  in  thinking — Inductive  and  deductive  meth- 
ods  of  teaching— Study  and   thinking 139 

Chapter  IX.    Language 

Language  a  form  of  muscular  reaction — Animal  language 
— Natural  signs — Conventional  signs — Gesture  language — 
Speech  development — Children's  definitions   ....     151 

Chapter  X.    Attitudes — Attention,  Feeling  and  Emotion 

Description  of  attention — Attention  a  selective  attitude 
— Various  forms  of  attention — Interest — Observation — 
Simple  feelings — Learning  and  feeling — Emotions — Educa- 
tional significance  of  emotions — Function  of  emotions — 
The   child's   emotions 160 

Chapter  XL    Voluntary  Action 

Involuntary  action — Purposefulness  of  voluntary  action 
— Inhibition  in  voluntary  action — Ideo-motor  action — Sug- 
gestion— Attention  in  voluntary  decision — Voluntary  ac- 
tion dependent  on  involuntary — Deliberation — Choice — 
Ideals — Voluntary  life  of  the  child — Training  the  will     .     178 

Chapter  XII.    Learning 

Perceptual  learning — Trial  and  error  learning — Idea- 
tional learning — Learning  telegraphy — The  learning  curve 
— Plataus — Associative  learnmg — Principles  of  efficient 
learning 195 

Chapter  XIII.    Transfer  of  Training 

Opposed  views — Can  memory  be  trained? — Experimental 
evidence — Rugg's  experiments — General  conclusions — Men- 
tal discipline — Negative  transfer — Conditions  of  transfer  .     219 

Chapter  XIV.    Individual  Differences 

Individual  differences  in  physical  traits — Distribution  of 
intelligence — Overlapping  in  school  grades — Results  of  edu- 
cational tests — Causes  of  individual  differences — Correla- 
tion of  abilities — Necessity  for  individual  instruction  .       .     229 


CONTENTS  XI 

Chapter  XV.    Mental  Development  pack 

Bodily  development — Relation  of  bodily  and  mental  de- 
velopment— Culture-epoch  theory — Stages  of  development 
— Motor  control — Collecting — Play — Attention — Memory 
— Reasoning 247 

Chapter  XVI.    Reading 

Sensory  processes  in  reading — Motor  processes  in  read- 
ing— Silent  and  oral  reading — Eye-movements — Central 
processes  in  reading — Individual  differences  in  reading   .     264 

Chapter  XVII.    Spelling 

Motor  processes  in  spelling — Various  means  of  sensory 
impression — Observation  of  words — Individual  differences 
in  spelling — Value  of  rules 278 

Chapter  XVIII.    Writing 

Writing  as  "Trial  and  error"  learning — Words  written  as 
wholes  in  developed  writing — Visual  and  muscular  sensa- 
tions in  writing — Muscular  activities  in  writing-rhythm 
— Writing  scales 286 

Chapter  XIX.    Arithmetic 

Numbers  as  illustrations  of  abstract  thought — Develop- 
ment of  number  ideas — Counting — Advantages  of  the  Ara- 
bic system — Number  operations — Early  number  ideas  of 
children — Objective  methods — Drill — Reasoning  in  arith- 
metic   295 

Chapter  XX.    Conclusion 

Biological  view  of  man — Consciousness  an  adaptive  func- 
tion— Inadequacy  of  non-conscious  action — Role  of  learn- 
ing— Function  of  language — Education  a  process  of  so- 
cial    inheritance 308 

Appendix 319 

General   Intelligence   Test 320 

Monroe's  Silent  Reading  Test 328 

Arithmetic     Test 332 

Index 337 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURE  PACK 

1  The   original   neural  tube 18 

2  A  later  stage  of  development 18 

3  The  fully  developed  nervous  system 19 

4  General  view  of  the  nervous  system,  showing  its  relation 

to  other  parts  of  the  body 21 

5  Various  types  of  neurones,  showing  cell  bodies  of  various 

shapes  and  sizes,  together  with  their  branching  processes      22 

6  Showing  the   synaptic   connections  between  neurones   and 

the  complicated  relations  arising  from  such  connections      23 

7  A  section  of  the  cerebral  cortex  showing  the  extreme  com- 

plexity        25 

8  Cross  section  of  spinal  cord 27 

9  Showing  the  path  of  impulses  reaching  the  cortical  level      29 

10  Exterior  aspect  of  right  hemisphere  of  cerebral  cortex  .       .       31 

11  Schematic   representation   of   nervous  system  regarded   as 

made  up  of  three  levels  of  sensori-motor  arcs   ...       35 

12  Showing  relative  development  of  fore-brain,  mid-brain  and 

hind-brain  in  the  various   orders  of  animals  from   am- 
phioxus  to  man 36 

13  Diagrammatic  section  of  the  human  eye 68 

14  Diagrammatic  section  of  the  retina 69 

15  Circular  arrangement  of  colors  representing  complementary 

colors  at  opposite  ends  of  diameters 73 

16  Structure    of   the   ear 79 

17  Diagrammatic  representation  of  the  basilar  membrane  and 

organ    of   Corti 80 

18  The    Muller-Lyer   illusion 87 

19  Diagram  to  show  the  presence  of  the  blind  spot  and  per- 

ceptual "filling  in" 90 

xiii 


xiv  LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURE  PAGE 

20    The  actual  height  of  the  figure  of  the  boy  is  the  same  as 

that  of  the  man 96 

22    Illustrations  of  visual  forms  of  days  in  the  week  and  of 

numbers 121 

24  Curve    showing   effect    of   practice    with    the    Muller-Lyer 

illusion 196 

25  Curves   of  learning   in   mirror   drawing 200 

26  Curves  of  learning  to  send  and  receive  telegraphic  messages    204 

27  Separate  curves  of  learning  for  letters,  words,  and  connected 

discourse  in  receiving  telegraphic  messages  ....     206 

28  Distribution  curve  for  Table  II 231 

29  Form  of  curve  to  which  Fig.  28  would  approximately  con- 

form if  an  indefinitely  large  number  of  cases  were  taken, 
and  the  units  of  height  were  very  small    ....     231 

30  Distribution  of  the   intelligence  quotients  of   112  kinder- 

garten children  as  measured  by  the  Stanford  revision  of 
the  Binet-Simon  scale 232 

31  Distribution  curve  of  the  intelligence  quotients  of  586  eighth- 

grade  children  of  Decatur,  Illinois,  as  measured  by  the 
Illinois    intelligence   examination 234 

32  Showing  overlapping  of  intelligence  of  Illinois  school  chil- 

dren in  Grades  IV,  VI  and  VIII 236 

33  Curves  showing  the  interest  of  boys  and  girls  at  various 

ages  in  toys,  ball  games  and  games  of  chase  ....     259 

34  Showing  eye-fixations  of  an  adult  reader  in  three  lines  of 

print 269 

35  Showing  eye-fixations  during  silent  reading  of  a  slow  reader 

in  the  fourth  grade  who  has  been  shown  by  tests  to  have 
poor  ability  to  comprehend  what  he  reads  ....     270 

36  The  upper  curve  shows  the  distribution  of  the  pupils  of  a 

fifth  grade  of  the  public  schools  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in 
rate   of   oral   reading 276 


PSYCHOLOGY 
AND  THE  SCHOOL 


PSYCHOLOGY   AND  THE 
SCHOOL 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION 

Psychology  defined.  —  Psychology  is  the  science 
that  describes  and  explains  conscious  processes  and 
their  relationship  to  the  behavior  of  man  and  other 
animals.  Any  one  may  know  what  is  meant  by  a  con- 
scious process  by  appealing  to  his  own  experience.  As 
long  as  we  are  awake,  and  very  often  while  we  are 
asleep,  we  are  conscious,  that  is,  there  is  a  continuous 
stream  of  perceptions,  memories,  thoughts,  feelings, 
and  other  sorts  of  conscious  processes  passing  on  within 
us.  The  sum  total  of  these  conscious  processes  we 
call  mind. 

Bodily  and  mental  functions  are  not  separate. — 
While  the  problem  of  psychology  is  the  investigation 
of  these  mental  processes,  its  purpose  must  not  be 
conceived  too  narrowly.  The  mind  is  closely  related 
to  the  body.  Conscious  processes  cannot  be  properly 
understood    and    explained    without    taking    bodily 


4  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

processes  into  account.  This  close  relationship  is 
especially  apparent  when  we  raise  such  questions  as, 
"What  is  the  mind  or  consciousness  for?  What  pur- 
pose or  function  does  it  play?"  In  a  general  way 
the  answer  to  these  questions  must  be  that  conscious- 
ness exists  for  the  sake  of  its  influence  on  action.  Our 
minds  influence  our  behavior  so  as  to  bring  us  into 
more  favorable  relationships  to  our  environment.  The 
separation  of  our  organisms  into  mind  and  body  is  an 
artificial  separation.  As  they  actually  exist  they  are 
indissolubly  connected.  The  mind's  functions  cannot 
be  properly  understood  without  taking  into  account 
the  bodily  functions;  nor  can  behavior  be  fully  ex- 
plained without  relating  it  to  the  conscious  processes 
with  which  it  is  connected. 

Psychology  the  only  science  that  includes  mental 
processes  in  its  explanations.  —  There  are  other  sci- 
ences, such  as  biology,  that  aim  to  explain  why  animals 
behave  as  they  do ;  but  such  sciences  do  not  include  con- 
scious processes  in  their  explanations.  There  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  the  lower  animals  share  with 
man  in  having  conscious  experiences.  How  far  down 
in  the  scale  of  animal  life  we  have  to  go  to  find  animals 
without  consciousness  cannot  be  told  with  exactness; 
but  most  of  the  lower  forms  of  life  are  so  similar  to 
man  in  their  structure  and  modes  of  behavior  as  to 
imply  that  they  possess  some  degree  or  kind  of  con- 
sciousness. 

The  behavior  of  the  simplest  animals.  —  Even  the 


INTRODUCTION  5 

lowest  forms  of  animal  life,  the  unicellular  organisms, 
perform  in  a  simple  manner  all  the  important  func- 
tions found  in  higher  kinds  of  animals.  Take,  for 
example,  the  Paramecium.  These  one-celled  micro- 
scopic animals  swim  around  in  the  water  in  which  they 
live,  taking  in  food  which,  as  in  higher  forms  of  life, 
is  used  for  furnishing  energy  and  replacing  the  waste 
of  the  body  substance.  While  the  Paramecium  usu- 
ally swims  forward  in  search  of  food,  it  has  another 
kind  of  behavior  under  certain  circumstances.  It  avoids 
certain  situations,  such  as  those  caused  by  obstruc- 
tions or  the  presence  of  a  drop  of  salty  water  intro- 
duced by  the  experimenter.  This  reaction  of  avoidance 
consists  of  backing  up  for  a  short  distance  and  then 
turning  in  a  slightly  different  direction  before  proceed- 
ing on  its  way. 

Sensitivity,  conductivity,  and  contractility.  —  From 
such  a  simple  account  of  one  of  the  lowest  forms  of 
animal  life  there  may  be  obtained  some  ideas  to  guide 
us  in  our  further  study.  We  have,  first  of  all,  a  living 
organism  ( Paramecium)  in  a  certain  environment 
(water)  in  which  it  lives.  The  way  in  which  the  ani- 
mal behaves  is  determined  by  two  factors — its  own 
nature  and  the  changing  conditions  of  the  environment. 
It  may  be  inferred  from  the  observation  of  the  be- 
havior of  the  Paramecium  (1)  that  it  is  affected  by 
(sensitive  to)  changes  in  its  environment;  (2)  that  the 
effects  of  the  environmental  changes  are  conducted 
from  the  part  of  the  animal's  body  where  they  are  re- 


6  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

ceived  to  other  parts;  and  (3)  that  these  parts  move 
(contract)  as  a  result.  These  three  functions  of  sensi- 
tivity, conductivity,  and  contractility  are  found  in  all 
living  organisms,  and  are  of  special  concern  in  the  study 
of  psychology.  Whether  the  Paramecium  has  also  the 
function  of  consciousness  we  can  only  surmise ;  but  in 
human  beings,  where  we  know  that  consciousness  is 
present,  it  is  always  related  more  or  less  directly  to 
these  three  functions,  sensitivity,  conductivity,  and  con- 
tractility. 

Specialization  of  functions.  —  In  the  unicellular  ani- 
mals all  these  functions  are  performed  by  one  cell. 
But  the  multicellular  animals  are  made  up  of  different 
kinds  of  cells,  each  with  its  special  function.  The  cells 
that  are  specialized  for  contractility  form  in  the  aggre- 
gate the  muscular  system  of  higher  animals.  The  cells 
that  are  specialized  for  sensitivity  are  distributed  for  the 
most  part  over  the  surface  of  the  body,  and  in  some 
cases  take  the  highly  specialized  forms  of  sense-organs. 
The  cells  that  are  specialized  for  conductivity  taken  to- 
gether form  the  nervous  system,  and  serve  to  connect 
the  sensitive  cells  with  the  contractile  (muscular)  cells. 
The  higher  in  the  scale  of  animal  evolution,  the  more 
numerous  and  highly  specialized  these  cells  become,  and 
the  behavior  is  correspondingly  more  varied.  All  of 
this  development  is  clearly  for  the  purpose  of  better 
adaptation  of  the  animal  to  its  environment. 

Relation  of  consciousness  to  these  functions.  — 
Somewhere  in  the  course  of  this  development  the  addi- 


INTRODUCTION  7 

tional  function  of  consciousness  appears,  and  is  added 
as  one  link  in  the  chain  leading  to  behavior.  It  is 
not  necessary  for  our  purposes  to  attempt  to  discover 
at  just  what  point  in  animal  evolution  consciousness 
appears,  since  it  is  with  the  conscious  processes  of 
human  beings  that  we  are  mainly  concerned.  When 
they  do  appear,  however,  they  are  not  isolated  and 
apart  from  the  rest  of  the  organism.  They  do  not  exist 
simply  for  their  own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  providing 
more  successful  and  varied  reactions  to  the  environ- 
mental conditions. 

Mental  processes  not  identical  with  brain  processes. 
—  It  may,  therefore,  be  stated  as  a  general  conclusion — 
which,  however,  must  be  left  to  further  study  to  justify 
fully — that  no  conscious  process  occurs  without  corre- 
sponding bodily  changes.  Let  us  take  a  concrete  ex- 
ample. We  are  continually,  in  the  course  of  our  wak- 
ing life,  engaged  in  seeing  objects  around  us.  Let  us 
suppose  that  a  moment  in  consciousness  has  been  de- 
voted to  the  experience  that  we  call  "seeing"  a  book. 
Every  one  knows  that  seeing  the  book  is  dependent 
upon  some  effect  that  the  book  has  upon  the  eye  and 
the  optic  nerve  leading  from  the  eye  to  the  brain. 
Now,  all  the  changes  taking  place  in  the  eye,  the  optic 
nerve,  and  the  brain,  are  bodily  changes  and  are  the 
necessary  conditions  for  the  conscious  experience  of 
seeing  the  book.  Furthermore,  the  person  seeing  the 
book  is  likely  to  act  in  some  definite  way  toward  the 
book,  as  when  the  arm  is  extended  and  the  hand  takes 


8  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

the  book.  Such  an  action  is,  of  course,  due  to  a  series 
of  bodily  changes  in  muscles,  nerves,  and  brain,  all  of 
which  are  again  related  to  the  conscious  experience  of 
seeing. 

At  this  point  the  student  should  be  warned  against 
making  the  mistake  of  identifying  the  conscious  process 
with  any  of  its  bodily  conditions.  We  often  speak 
of  brain  processes  as  if  they  were  identical  with  mental 
processes,  and  our  thoughts  are  said  to  be  in  our  heads. 
\t  TOust  be  remembered,  however,  that  a  mental 
process  is  a  unique  sort  of  fact,  quite  different  from  the 
physical  brain  processes.  It  occurs  in  the  head  only 
in  the  sense  that  it  depends  on  brain  processes  that 
take  place  there. 

Unique  character  of  mental  process.  —  The  dis- 
tinction between  brain  processes  and  conscious  proc- 
esses is  well  stated  in  the  following  quotation  from 
Royce: 

Were  physiologists  better  endowed  with  sense-organs 
and  with  instruments  of  exact  observation,  we  can, 
if  we  choose,  conceive  them  as,  by  some  now  unknown 
device,  coming  to  watch  the  very  molecules  of  our 
brains;  but  we  cannot  conceive  them,  in  any  possible 
case,  as  observing  from  without  our  pains  or  our 
thoughts  in  the  sense  in  which  physical  facts  are  ob- 
servable. Were  my  body  as  transparent  as  crystal,  or 
could  all  my  internal  physical  functions  be  viewed  and 
studied  as  easily  as  one  now  observes  a  few  small  par- 
ticles eddying  in  a  glass  of  nearly  clear  water,  my  men- 
tal states  could  not  even  then  be  seen  floating  in  my 


INTRODUCTION  9 

brain.  No  microscope  could  conceivably  reveal  them. 
To  me  alone  would  these  states  be  known.  And  I 
should  not  see  them  from  without;  I  should  simply 
find  them,  or  be  aware  of  them.  And  what  it  is  to  find 
them,  or  to  be  aware  of  them,  I  alone  can  tell  myself. 

Introspection  direct  observation  of  mind.  —  Psy- 
chology, like  any  other  science,  begins  by  careful  obser- 
vation of  its  facts.  Casual  observation  is  seldom  accu- 
rate enough  to  be  scientific,  and  in  the  case  of  conscious 
facts  we  rarely  take  the  trouble  to  observe  them  care- 
fully. The  conscious  experience  does  not  appear  to 
exist  for  its  own  sake,  but  rather  for  the  sake  of  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  putting  us  in  touch  with  our  sur- 
roundings. Much  of  consciousness  is  taken  up  with 
reporting  to  us  changes  in  the  world  around  us,  thus 
preparing  us  for  activities  suitable  to  these  changes.  In 
such  cases  we  are  chiefly  interested  in  what  conscious- 
ness reflects  to  us  of  the  external  world  rather  than  in 
the  nature  of  the  conscious  process  that  reveals  this 
knowledge.  To  observe  carefully  the  conscious  process 
as  it  occurs  is  therefore  somewhat  unnatural;  but  it 
is  nevertheless  the  only  method  we  have  of  getting  first 
hand  direct  knowledge  of  consciousness.  Such  observa- 
tion of  one's  own  conscious  processes  is  called  intro- 
spection (literally,  "looking  within"). 

Mind  indirectly  observable  through  behavior. — 
It  is  clear  that  one  cannot  observe  the  mental  processes 
of  others  by  the  method  of  introspection.  Indeed,  it 
is,  as  we  have  seen,  one  of  the  distinguishing  marks 


10        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

of  conscious  processes  that  they  belong  to  the  individ- 
ual experiencing  them,  and  to  him  alone.  For  example, 
if  a  person  is  angry,  you  may  infer  that  such  is  the  case 
from  his  appearance  and  behavior;  but  the  anger  itself 
is  his  experience  and  directly  observable  by  him  only. 
This  illustration  will  serve  to  show  that  we  can  observe 
the  consciousness  of  others  only  indirectly  through  the 
observation  of  their  behavior. 

Both  methods  necessary.  —  The  direct  and  indirect 
methods  of  observing  consciousness  must  go  hand  in 
hand  and  supplement  each  other.  Introspection  is  un- 
natural until  we  have  had  much  practice,  and  even 
after  much  practice  is  difficult  and  fails  to  reveal  many 
of  the  facts.  On  the  other  hand,  the  facts  obtained  by 
the  method  of  indirect  observation  frequently  have  to 
be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  what  is  known  of  one's 
own  experience  gained  through  introspection. 

Illustration  from  child  psychology.  —  The  relation 
between  these  two  methods  of  observation  is  well 
brought  out  by  a  reference  to  a  special  field  of  psychol- 
ogy, which  has  a  vital  relation  to  education,  viz.,  child 
psychology.  To  observe  the  facts  of  the  child's  con- 
sciousness is  possible  only  through  the  observation  of 
his  many  forms  of  behavior.  Even  in  those  cases  where 
the  child  is  old  enough  to  describe  his  own  conscious 
processes  by  means  of  speech,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  speech  is,  from  the  point  of  view  we  are  now  tak- 
ing, merely  a  form  of  behavior.  This  may  introduce 
an  error  into  the  conclusion  if  great  care  is  not  taken 


INTRODUCTION  11 

in  the  interpretation  of  the  child's  behavior,  since  in 
many  cases  it  is  difficult  to  think  oneself  back  into  the 
consciousness  of  one's  own  childhood.  The  adult's  and 
the  child's  behavior  may  be  very  much  alike  in  some 
respects,  but  it  would  be  unwise  to  jump  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  conscious  process  back  of  the  behavior 
is  the  same  in  the  two  cases.  A  child  a  month  old  may 
smile  in  response  to  the  smile  of  his  mother  or  nurse 
in  much  the  same  way  as  would  an  adult  under  similar 
circumstances;  but  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  a  child 
of  that  age  has  any  such  realization  of  the  significance 
of  his  behavior  as  has  the  adult. 

Explanation  by  analysis.  —  To  explain  a  fact  is  to 
make  it  clear  by  showing  the  conditions  under  which 
it  makes  its  appearance.  The  various  sciences  use 
various  methods  of  explanation.  Thus  the  chemist  may 
show  the  conditions  under  which  water  makes  its  ap- 
pearance by  analyzing  it  into  its  constituent  elements  of 
hydrogen  and  oxygen.  Analysis  of  complex  mental 
processes  into  their  elements  is  one  of  the  chief  meth- 
ods of  explanation  in  psychology.  It  is,  of  course,  im- 
possible to  analyze  a  mental  process  into  simpler 
elementary  parts  that  can  be  actually  separated  from 
one  another,  as  can  the  hydrogen  and  oxygen  of  water. 
Nevertheless,  the  analysis  of  a  mental  process  may  take 
place  by  merely  observing  the  various  constituent  ele- 
ments, just  as  one  may  observe  the  various  parts  of  a 
complex  piece  of  machinery  without  taking  the  ma- 
chinery apart. 


12  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

Explanation  by  bodily  conditions.  —  A  second 
method  of  explaining  psychological  processes  is  by  re- 
lating them  to  the  various  bodily  conditions  with  which 
they  are  connected.  The  physiological  processes  con- 
nected with  the  eye  help  to  explain  the  conscious  ex- 
perience of  seeing,  since  the  former  is  a  condition  of  the 
latter.  The  relationship  between  bodily  processes  and 
mental  processes  is  much  wider  than  would  be  sup- 
posed without  special  study,  and  to  trace  the  details 
of  these  relationships  constitutes  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant tasks  of  modern  psychology. 

Relation  of  psychology  to  teaching.  —  It  may  be 
safely  said  that  no  teacher  can  fail  to  understand  both 
the  child  and  the  nature  of  the  learning  process  bet- 
ter for  having  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  psychology.  We  all  possess  in  a  greater 
or  less  degree  glimmerings  of  psychological  knowledge 
that  we  have  not  been  taught  by  books;  but  in  order 
that  we  may  not  make  mistakes  we  need  a  precise 
knowledge  of  the  facts  and  laws  of  mind  in  general, 
and  especially  of  the  mind  of  the  child  of  school  age. 
While  a  teacher  may  perhaps  be  a  good  teacher  with- 
out knowing  psychology,  he  cannot  afford  to  neglect 
the  sciences  that  underlie  the  art  of  teaching,  any  more 
than  the  physician  can  afford  to  neglect  physiology  and 
anatomy,  however  much  native  skill  he  may  have  in 
the  art  of  healing. 

Education  defined.  —  When  we  speak  of  education 
we  usually  refer  to  certain  effects  on  the  child  produced 


INTRODUCTION  13 

by  teachers  and  schools.  A  little  reflection,  however, 
will  show  that  these  effects  are  not  different  in  kind 
from  many  of  the  changes  brought  about  in  the  child 
by  his  life  outside  of  school.  The  child  is  by  nature  a 
learner;  that  is,  every  experience  he  undergoes  leaves 
its  effect,  however  small  it  may  be,  and  he  will  act 
differently  in  the  future  because  of  the  experience. 
Broadly  speaking,  education  is  the  sum  total  of  the 
conscious  changes  effected  in  a  child  by  his  environ- 
ment, and  the  evidence  of  this  education  is  the  way 
in  which  he  acts  in  the  various  situations  in  which  he 
finds  himself. 

Environment  produces  the  educative  effects.  —  But 
the  environment  of  the  child  is  very  complex  and  va- 
ried. It  includes  not  only  the  natural  physical  objects, 
such  as  land  and  water,  trees  and  stones,  sky  and  stars, 
but  objects  made  by  man's  hands — buildings,  machin- 
ery, and  works  of  art.  It  includes  also  other  persons 
and  what  they  say  and  do  and  have  written — language, 
science,  history.  In  a  word,  the  child's  environment 
consists  of  everything  outside  of  himself  that  affects 
him  in  such  a  way  as  to  change  his  behavior. 

Psychology  the  scientific  foundation  for  education. 
— It  is  the  task  of  the  educator  to  place  the  child  in 
the  best  environment  to  insure  the  greatest  possible 
efficiency  in  meeting  his  life's  needs  and  those  of  his 
fellow  man.  In  education,  in  the  narrower  sense 
of  the  word,  there  is  a  conscious  selection  of  the  en- 
vironmental forces  that  are  supposed  to  be  most  fa- 


14        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

vorable  for  the  child's  development.  This  task  can 
be  successfully  accomplished  only  when  we  know  what 
the  child's  nature  is  to  begin  with,  and  what  effects 
may  be  expected  from  the  experiences  through  which 
he  passes.  It  is  the  purpose  of  psychology  to  investi- 
gate such  conditions  and  effects,  and  to  show  how  and 
why  the  child  responds  to  the  various  environmental 
forces. 

Necessity  of  clearly  understanding  terms.  —  There 
are  a  few  errors  to  which  the  beginner  in  psychology  is 
prone  that  may  perhaps  be  avoided  if  they  are 
clearly  pointed  out  at  the  start.  Much  of  the  confusion 
that  sometimes  comes  upon  the  student  is  due  to  lack 
of  understanding  terms.  We  are  continually  using  such 
terms  as  perceive,  imagine,  remember,  think,  and  the 
nouns  corresponding  to  these  verbs,  in  our  ordinary 
conversation.  The  psychologist  uses  these  same  terms, 
but  in  a  technical  sense  that  is  more  precise  than  the 
meaning  given  in  every-day  speech.  If  the  student, 
however,  neglects  the  more  precise  meaning  of  the  psy- 
chological terms  simply  because  of  his  familiarity  with 
their  meanings  as  commonly  used,  he  is  very  likely  to 
fall  into  error  and  confusion.  Try,  therefore,  to  dis- 
cover the  precise  meaning  of  all  psychological  terms 
as  they  are  met  in  the  succeeding  pages.  The  attempt 
is  made  to  define  each  term  as  it  appears.  No  such 
hard  and  fast  definitions,  however,  can  do  justice  to 
the  facts.  They  should  be  regarded  merely  as  starting- 
points  in  the  description  of  the  processes  involved. 


INTRODUCTION  15 

Confusion  of  brain  processes  with  mental  processes. 
—  Another  source  of  trouble  to  the  student  beginner 
of  psychology  is  often  the  confusion  of  conscious  proc- 
esses with  brain  processes.  This  is  the  more  likely 
to  be  the  case  since  the  introduction  to  the  study  of 
psychology  is  usually  made  through  a  description  of  the 
nervous  system,  a  plan  that  will  be  followed  in  our 
own  treatment  of  the  subject.  We  have  already 
pointed  out  in  general  way  the  justification  for  in- 
troducing this  material,  which  is,  strictly  speaking, 
physiological,  into  a  text-book  on  psychology.  A  knowl- 
edge of  the  nervous  system  helps  us  to  explain  the 
facts  of  consciousness.  The  psychologist  is,  therefore, 
interested  in  the  nervous  system  not  so  much  for  its 
own  sake  as  for  the  light  it  throws  upon  consciousness. 

Difficulty  of  the  introspective  point  of  view.  —  A 
third  source  of  difficulty  is  inherent  in  the  nature  of 
psychology  itself.  It  is  the  difficulty  of  adopting  the 
psychological  or  introspective  point  of  view.  As  has 
already  been  pointed  out,  it  is  not  usual  to  observe 
conscious  processes  carefully,  because  they  seem  to  be 
but  a  means  to  an  end.  We  see  and  hear  things,  not 
for  the  sake  of  the  seeing  and  hearing  experiences  them- 
selves; rather  are  we  interested  in  the  objects  reported 
to  consciousness  and  in  adopting  the  appropriate  be- 
havior toward  these  objects.  Observation  of  seeing 
and  hearing  as  conscious  processes  is,  therefore,  some- 
what difficult  because  unusual.  The  student  should 
practise  introspection.    Stop  two  or  three  times  in  the 


16        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

course  of  the  day  and  try  to  observe  what  is  passing 
through  your  mind.  Try  to  verify  descriptions  of  this 
book  in  your  own  experience. 

REFERENCES 

Angell,  J.  R.    Psychology.    Chapter  I.    (Holt,  1910.) 

Bagley,  W.  C.  The  Educative  Process.  Chapters  I, 
II.     (Macmillan,  1906.) 

Colvin,  S.  S.  The  Learning  Process.  Chapter  I. 
(Macmillan,  1911.) 

James,  W.  Talks  to  Teachers.  Chapters  I-IV.  (Holt, 
1904.) 

Pillsbury,  W.  B.  The  Essentials  of  Psychology.  Chap- 
ter I.    (Macmillan,  1911.) 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM 

Meaning  of  behavior.  —  Behavior,  in  the  last  an- 
alysis, is  merely  muscular  action,  sometimes  relatively 
simple,  sometimes  complex,  sometimes  resulting  in 
movement,  sometimes  in  lack  of  movement  by  the  bal- 
ancing of  the  contracted  muscles  against  one  another.1 
But  the  muscles  do  not  act  of  their  own  accord:  they 
act  more  or  less  directly  in  relation  to  the  functioning 
of  the  sensitive  parts  of  the  body.  The  entire  surface 
of  the  body  is  sensitive  to  objects  coming  into  contact 
with  it,  and  the  higher  animals  have  special  sense- 
organs  capable  of  responding  to  such  environmental 
changes  as  those  that  occur  in  the  form  of  ether  waves 
and  air  waves. 

General  purpose  of  the  nervous  system.  —  The 
nervrfuf  system  is  a  mechanism  for  connecting  sensitive 
parts  of  the  body  with  muscles,  so  that  the  animal's 
behavior  may  be  made  in  relation  to  what  is  happening 
in  its  environment.  An  environmental  happening 
that  actually  affects  a  sensitive  part  of  the  body  is 
called  a  stimulus.    The  stimulus,  by  its  effect  on  the 

'The  term  behavior  is  sometimes  used,  as  by  Thorndike,  to  mean 
the  whole  series  of  organic  activities  (including  conscious  processes) 
that  lead  to  muscular  action. 

17 


18 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


sense-organ,  produces  a  nervous  impulse,  which  passes 
through  the  nervous  system  and  discharges  into  the 


I  Mid 
Fore  Brain Rrain   -Hind  Brain 1 


I  I 

I  I 


Fig.  2. 
Fia.  1.    The  original  neural  tube.    Fig.  2.     A  later  stage  of  devel- 
opment.   The  figure  shows  the  chief  structures  of  the  fore-brain,  mid- 
brain and  hind-brain.     (After  Lickley.) 

muscle.    The  main  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  show 
some  of  the  typical  ways  in  which  the  muscles  and 


THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM  19 

sense-organs  are  connected  in  man,  or,  in  other  words, 
to  trace  the  paths  that  nervous  impulses  travel.  Be- 
fore this  can  be  done,  however,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
describe  the  nervous  system  as  a  whole  and  the  various 
parts  of  which  it  is  composed. 

Embryonic  development  of  the  nervous  system.  — 


CORPORA 
QUADRIG£MINA 


MEDULLA 


Fid.  3.  The  fully  developed  nervous  system.  The  drawing  exag- 
gerates the  separation  between  the  fore-brain  and  hind-brain,  in  order 
to  show  the  mid-brain. 

Very  early  in  the  life  of  the  human  embryo  the  nerv- 
ous system  consists  of  a  hollow  sac  filled  with  liquid 
and  occupying  a  position  corresponding  to  the  middle 
of  the  back.  The  end  of  this  tube  toward  the  head 
expands  to  form  three  bulbs,  as  shown  in  Fig.  1,  and 
these  bulbs  become  eventually  the  fore-brain,  mid- 
brain, and  hind-brain  of  the  developed  nervous  sys- 
tem.    The  walls  of  this  tube  thicken,  the  liquid  is 


20        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

largely  though  not  wholly  absorbed,  and  the  tube  be- 
comes more  or  less  twisted  in  the  course  of  its  growth. 
This  twisting  is  due  chiefly  to  the  very  great  develop- 
ment of  the  fore-brain  region,  which  presses  back  and 
over  the  mid-  and  hind-brain  regions,  as  shown  in  Fig. 
2.  By  the  time  of  birth  the  whole  structure  has  at- 
tained the  appearance  shown  in  Fig.  3  on  page  19. 

Gross  structure  of  the  nervous  system.  —  Fig.  4 
presents  a  view  of  the  nervous  system  in  relation  to  the 
other  parts  of  the  body.  It  consists  of  (1)  the  brain 
(that  portion  of  the  nervous  system  within  the  bones 
of  the  skull) ;  (2)  the  spinal  cord,  which  runs  the  length 
of  the  back  from  the  brain  downward,  and  (3)  the 
nerves,  which  spread  from  the  spinal  cord  and  base 
of  the  brain  to  all  parts  of  the  body. 

Figures  2  and  3  show  the  chief  structures  of  the 
fore-,  mid-,  and  hind-brain  regions.  The  fore-brain 
consists  of  the  cerebrum,  the  uppermost  portion,  and 
the' thalamus,  which  is  below  and  completely  hidden  by 
the  cerebrum  when  viewed  from  the  exterior  as  rep- 
resented in  Fig.  3.  The  mid-brain  region,  which  is 
relatively  very  small,  consists  of  the  corpora  quad- 
rigemina  (behind)  and  the  crura  (in  front).  The  mid- 
brain is,  in  fact,  completely  enveloped  by  the  cere- 
brum, as  in  Fig.  4.  Fig.  3  exaggerates  the  degree  of 
separation  between  the  various  regions  in  order  to 
show  the  relation  of  the  parts.  The  hind-brain  con- 
sists of  the  cerebellum,  at  the  back  of  the  head;  the 
pons,  at  the  front,  and  the  medulla,  a  thickened  por- 


THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM 


21 


tion  of  the  spinal  cord  at  the  point  where  it  enters  the 
skull.  All  of  the  structures  of  the  brain  below  the  cere- 


Cer. 


Fig.  4.  General  view  of  the  nervous  system,  showing  its  relation 
to  other  parts  of  the  body.  The  figure  shows  a  section  of  one  of 
each  pair  of  spinal  nerves,  which  radiate  to  all  parts  of  the  body. 
The  cerebral  nerves,  attached  to  the  base  of  the  brain,  are  not  shown 
in  the  figure.  (From  Angell,  by  permission  of  Henry  Holt  and  Com- 
pany.) 

brum  may  be  referred  to  collectively  as  the  basal  ganglia. 
Elementary  structure  of  the  nervous  system.  —  The 


22 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


from  the 

Fia.  5.  Various  types  of  neurones,  showing  cell  bodies  of  various 
shapes  and  sizes,  together  with  their  branching  processes.  (From 
Angell,  by  permission  of  Henry  Holt  and  Company.) 


THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM 


23 


nervous  system,  like  other  parts  of  the  body,  is  com- 
posed of  cells.  The  nerve-cell,  or  neurone  (Fig.  5), 
however,  differs  from  other  cells  by  having  attached 
to  the  main  cell-body  thread-like  branching  fibers  which 
extend  from  it  in  various  directions.     Some  of  these 


Fig.  6.  Showing  the  synaptic  connections  between  neurones  and 
the  complicated  relations  arising  from  such  connections.  (Modified 
from  Judd.) 

fibers  are  extremely  short,  while  others  are  several  feet 
long.  The  nerves  shown  in  Fig.  4  are  composed  of 
many  of  these  longer  fibers  bundled  together,  each 
fiber  in  the  bundle  being  a  part  of  a  different  neurone. 
The  synapse.  —  No  neurone  acts  independently:  it 
always  acts  in  conjunction  with  other  neurones.  The 
fibers  end  in  very  fine  branches,  and  the  branches  of 


24        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

fibers  belonging  to  one  neurone  come  into  contact  with 
the  branching  fibers  of  other  neurones  (Fig.  6).  The 
point  of  contact  is  known  as  the  synapse.  The  fibers 
do  not  grow  together  at  this  point,  but  merely  inter- 
lace one  another.  The  neurones,  by  virtue  of  these  con- 
nections, form  systems  of  greater  or  less  complexity. 
In  any  given  action  of  the  nervous  system,  therefore, 
more  than  one  neurone  is  concerned. 

The  sensori-motor  arc.  — The  entire  path  of  a 
nervous  impulse  (consisting  of  a  system  of  intercon- 
nected neurones)  is  sometimes  referred  to  as  a  sensori- 
motor path  or  arc.  It  is  called  sensory  because  it  has 
its  origin  in  a  sense-organ  (eye,  ear,  skin,  and  so  forth). 
It  is  called  motor  because  it  ends  in  a  muscle  and  is 
concerned  in  the  movement  of  the  muscle.  The  hyphen 
indicates  that  the  entire  structure  from  beginning  to 
end  is  in  reality  one  mechanism  and  functions  in  a 
unitary  way. 

Gray  matter.  —  In  many  parts  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem the  cell-bodies  are  grouped  closely  together,  giv- 
ing these  parts  a  characteristic  grayish  appearance. 
Such  fibers  as  are  present  here  are  very  short,  so  that 
the  bulk  of  the  material  is  composed  of  cell-bodies. 
Gray  matter  is  found  especially  in  the  outside  portion 
of  the  cerebrum  (known  as  the  cortex)  and  in  the  in- 
side portion  of  the  spinal  cord.  The  cortex  in  the 
human  cerebrum,  although  only  an  eighth  to  a  quar- 
ter of  an  inch  thick,  is  extremely  complex,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  7. 


THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM 


25 


Fia.  7.     A  section  of  the  cerebml  cortex  showing  its  extreme  com- 
plexity.    (From  Thorndike's  Psychology,  by  permission  of  the  author.) 


26        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

White  matter.  —  The  fibers  of  the  various  neurones 
also  are  grouped  together  to  a  large  extent,  and  make 
up  the  white  matter  of  the  nervous  system.  The  white 
matter  forms  the  greater  bulk  of  both  the  cerebrum  and 
the  other  structures  in  the  brain  that  lie  below  the 
cerebrum.  It  forms  also  the  outer  portion  of  the  spinal 
cord.  The  nerves  shown  in  Fig.  4,  as  well  as  the  white 
matter  of  the  central  nervous  system,  are  composed  of 
bundles  of  fibers.  It  must  be  remembered  that  no  fiber 
is  ever  detached,  but  each  forms  a  part  of  some  neurone 
the  cell-body  of  which  lies  more  or  less  distant  from  it. 

Types  of  sensori-motor  arcs.  —  For  the  purpose  of 
our  study  the  nervous  system  may  be  regarded  as 
being  made  up  of  two  types  of  sensori-motor  arcs:  (1) 
a  relatively  simple  type  in  which  nervous  impulses  do 
not  pass  to  the  cerebral  cortex  but  are  confined  to  the 
level  of  the  spinal  cord  and  basal  ganglia;  (2)  a  much 
more  complex  type  in  which  the  impulses  pass  through 
the  cerebral  cortex. 

Sensori-motor  arcs  of  the  first  level.  —  Let  us  ex- 
amine the  simple  type  first.  This  may  most  readily 
be  done  by  a  reference  to  the  structure  and  function 
of  the  spinal  cord.  A  cross-section  of  the  spinal  cord 
is  represented  in  Fig.  8.  The  outer  portion  is  white 
matter;  the  inner  butterfly-shaped  portion  is  gray  mat- 
ter. It  will  be  noted  from  Fig.  4  that  at  various  in- 
tervals nerves  run  into  the  spinal  cord.  The  nerves, 
as  we  have  seen,  are  composed  of  fibers.  Some  of  the 
fibers  are  connected  with  the  sensitive  portions  of  the 


THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM 


27 


skin;  others  are  connected  with  the  muscles.  The 
fibers  connected  with  sensitive  parts  of  the  body  are 
known  as  sensory  fibers;  those  connected  with  the 
muscles  are  known  as  motor  fibers.  Both  sensory  and 
motor  fibers  from  the  same  general  region  of  the  body 
are  bundled  together  and  pass  to  the  spinal  cord  in 
the  form  of  nerves.    All  of  the  sensory  fibers  pass  to 


Fig.  8.  Cross  section  of  spinal  cord.  The  nervous  impulse  is  rep- 
resented by  the  arrows  as  passing  from  a  sensory  surface  of  the 
skin  across  the  gray  matter  of  the  cord  to  the  muscles  at  the  right. 


the  back  of  the  spinal  cord  and  enter  the  gray  matter 
there  on  either  the  right  or  the  left  of  the  cord.  The 
motor  fibers  enter  the  front  of  the  gray  matter  of  the 
cord  either  to  the  right  or  the  left. 

Neurones  constituting  the  gray  matter  between  the 
front  and  the  back  of  the  cord  serve  to  bring  the  motor 
and  the  sensory  neurones  together  by  means  of  synap- 
tic connections  with  each.  Hence  numerous  complete 
sensori-motor  paths  are  made,  beginning  in  some  sen- 
sitive portion  of  the  skin,  and  continuing  by  a  sensory 


28  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

fiber  to  the  gray  matter  at  the  back  of  the  corcl.  thence 
through  the  gray  matter  of  the  cord  to  the  motor  fiber 
at  the  front  part  of  the  cord,  and  thence  to  some  mus- 
cle. Sometimes  the  connection  is  made  between  sen- 
sory and  motor  neurones  on  the  same  side  of  the  body 
— sometimes  on  the  opposite  side.  Again,  sometimes 
the  connection  is  made  at  a  point  higher  up  or  lower 
down  than  the  point  at  which  the  sensory  fiber  enters 
the  cord.  These  are  the  simple  sensori-motor  paths  of 
the  spinal-cord  level. 

Every  sensitive  point  of  that  portion  of  the  body 
below  the  head  has  in  this  way  a  connection  through 
the  spinal  cord  with  various  muscles.  The  diagram, 
for  example,  may  be  taken  to  represent  what  hap- 
pens when  a  sleeping  person's  right  hand  is  tickled  by 
the  presence  of  a  fly.  The  nervous  impulse  aroused 
finds  its  way  by  the  course  marked  by  the  arrows  back 
to  the  muscles  of  the  other  hand,  and  the  movement 
of  brushing  away  follows  almost  immediately.  Such 
movements  are  known  as  reflex  actions. 

The  special  senses  in  the  head  are  not  connected  with 
the  spinal  cord,  but  send  their  nerves  directly  to  the 
structures  at  the  base  of  the  brain  which  we  have 
called  the  basal  ganglia.  Here  they  find  connections 
with  motor  neurones  in  a  similar  way  to  that  which  we 
have  described  as  taking  place  in  the  spinal  cord.  Re- 
flexes, like  those  of  the  opening  and  closing  of  the  pupil 
of  the  eye  in  response  to  the  amount  of  light,  are 
brought  about  in  this  way. 


THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM 


29 


Higher  conduction  paths.  —  One  essential  function 
of  the  spinal  cord  and  basal  ganglia  has  not  been  con- 
sidered up  to  this  point.  The  white  matter  of  these 
structures  contains  many  fibers  that  pass  upward  to 


Fig.  9.  Showing  the  path  of  impulses  reaching  the  cortical  level. 
Di.  Sensory  portion  of  skin.  D.  Sensory  nerve  cell  bod}'.  C.  Muscles. 
A.  Cerebral  cortex.     (After  Cajal.) 

the  cerebral  cortex,  as  shown  in  Fig.  9.  By  means  of 
these  every  sensitive  portion  of  the  body  has  connec- 
tion with  some  part  of  the  cerebral  cortex.  A  nervous 
impulse  originating  in  the  foot,  for  example,  may  in 
some  instances  be  deflected  from  the  immediate  path 


30  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

to  the  muscles  through  the  cord,  and  may  take  a  round- 
about path  through  the  cerebral  cortex.  When  the 
neural  impulse  takes  this  longer  path  it  follows  a  sen- 
sori-motor  arc  of  one  of  the  higher  levels.  Most  of  the 
fibers  that  pass  to  the  cortex  cross  over  from  one  side 
of  the  body  to  the  other  somewhere  in  their  course, 
thus  bringing  the  left  hemisphere  into  functional  rela- 
tionship with  the  right  side  of  the  body,  and  vice 
versa. 

Neither  the  sensory  nor  the  motor  fibers  that  reach 
the  cortex  are  scattered  confusedly,  but  each  group  of 
fibers  belonging  to  any  one  of  the  various  senses,  e.  g., 
vision,  hearing,  and  so  forth,  passes  to  definitely  lo- 
calized areas  in  the  cortex.  It  will  be  well  to  indicate 
the  position  of  these  areas  at  this  point  in  our  descrip- 
tion. 

Sensory  areas  of  the  cerebral  cortex.  —  Fig.  10  rep- 
resents the  outer  surface  of  the  right  hemisphere,  the 
front  lying  to  the  right  and  the  back  lying  to  the  left 
of  the  page.  The  entire  surface  of  the  cerebrum  is 
covered  with  folds  or  convolutions,  so  that  if  spread  flat 
it  would  occupy  about  thirteen  times  as  much  space  as 
it  actually  covers.  The  fissures  are  still  deeper  clefts 
in  the  cerebral  structure,  and  those  of  Sylvius  and 
Rolando  will  aid  us  in  locating  the  various  areas. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  figure  that  an  area  near  the 
back  part  of  the  cerebrum  is  the  visual  area;  that  is, 
all  of  the  sensory  fibers  reaching  the  cerebral  cortex 
that  are  connected  with  vision  are  functionally  related 


THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM 


31 


to  the  cell-bodies  in  this  area.  A  similar  area  receiv- 
ing the  auditory  sensory  impulses  is  found  in  the  tem- 
poral region  of  the  brain  below  the  fissure  of  Sylvius. 
The  sensory  areas  for  smell  and  taste  are  on  the  inner 
side  of  the  cerebral  hemisphere,  and  hence  cannot  be 


OTA 


Fig.  10.  Exterior  aspect  of  right  hemisphere  of  cerebral  cortex. 
V.  Visual  sensory  area.  H.  Auditory  sensory  area.  B.  Sensory  area 
for  touch,  etc.  M.  Motor  area.  A.P.  Association  area.  O.T.A.  As- 
sociation area.  A.F.  Association  area.  I.  Association  area  disclosed 
to  view  by  separating  Fissure  of  Sylvius.  R.  Fissure  of  Rolando. 
(Modified  from  Angell  after  Flechsig.) 

shown  in  this  figure.  The  important  area  just  behind 
the  fissure  of  Rolando  is  the  sensory  area  for  the  senses 
whose  end  organs  are  in  the  skin  and  muscles  (touch, 
temperature,  and  muscular  senses).  The  visual,  audi- 
tory, and  touch  areas  also  overlap  on  the  inner  surface 
to  a  certain  extent. 

Motor  areas.  —  Besides  these  sensory  areas  there 


32  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

are  other  areas  in  the  cortex,  which  may  be  described 
as  motor.  The  motor  areas  occupy  a  position  imme- 
diately in  front  of  the  fissure  of  Rolando.  These  are 
the  areas  from  which  the  motor  fibers  pass  on  their 
way  to  the  lower  parts  of  the  brain  and  spinal  cord  and 
thence  to  the  muscles.  Just  as  each  sensitive  portion 
of  the  body  is  represented  by  a  point  in  one  of  the 
sensory  areas  of  the  cortex,  so  every  muscle  is  connected 
with  a  point  in  this  motor  area.  In  general,  the  mus- 
cles of  the  lower  part  of  the  body  are  connected  with 
the  cells  in  the  upper  part  of  the  motor  area,  and 
those  of  the  upper  part  of  the  body  are  connected  with 
the  lower  centers,  with  the  centers  for  the  middle 
part  of  the  body  lying  between. 

Association  areas.  —  It  will  be  noticed  that  there 
are  large  areas  in  the  cortex  that  are  neither  sensory 
nor  motor.  These  are  known  as  association  areas. 
One  of  the  most  important  of  these  areas  lies  directly 
in  front  of  the  cerebrum,  and  is  known  as  the  frontal 
association  area.  Another  is  in  the  general  region  be- 
tween the  auditory  and  visual  areas,  and  is  known  as 
the  parietal  association  area.  The  association  areas 
are  those  portions  of  the  cerebral  cortex  in  which 
the  various  sensory  impulses  combine  on  their  way  to 
the  motor  area.  In  this  way,  provision  is  made  for 
sensory  impulses  of  various  kinds  to  issue  in  a  single 
movement,  because  they  have  become  united  in  the 
association  areas  before  passing  onward  to  the  motor 
areas.    To  take  a  simple  example,  the  nervous  impulses 


THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM  33 

aroused  by  simultaneously  seeing  and  touching  a  book, 
after  having  arrived  at  their  respective  sensory  areas, 
become  combined  in  the  association  areas,  and  any 
activity  that  may  result  comes  from  the  combined  ac- 
tion of  the  two  groups  of  impulses.  On  a  subsequent 
occasion  either  the  visual  or  the  tactual  stimulus  alone 
might  arouse  a  nervous  impulse,  which  would  follow 
the  same  path  through  the  association  areas  and  have 
similar  motor  results. 

Sensori-motor  arcs  of  the  higher  level.  —  We  are 
now  ready  to  describe  the  entire  course  of  sensori- 
motor paths  of  the  higher  level.  These  paths  at  their 
origin  are  identical  with  those  of  the  lower  level,  and 
pass  by  the  same  neurones  as  do  they  to  the  spinal 
cord  or  to  the  basal  ganglia.  Instead,  however,  of 
coming  into  direct  connection  in  these  regions  with 
the  motor^  neurones,  the  nervous  impulse  follows  a 
longer  path  up  the  spinal  cord  or  the  basal  ganglia, 
or  both,  to  the  appropriate  area  in  the  cerebral  cortex. 
From  this  point  the  nervous  impulse  passes  to  the 
motor  area  by  way  of  an  association  area.  From  the 
motor  area  the  impulse  passes  downward  to  the  mus- 
cles that  are  to  respond  to  the  stimulus.  The  lower 
portion  of  the  motor  path  is,  therefore,  also  identical 
with  that  of  the  lower-level  arcs.  The  sensori-motor 
arcs  of  the  higher  level  are  thus  built  on  the  plan  of  a 
loop  on  those  of  the  lower  level. 

Sensori-motor  arcs  of  an  intermediate  level. — 
While  the  two  levels  of  sensori-motor  arcs  that  have 


34  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

been  described  give  a  general  idea  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem in  its  functioning,  many  details  are  omitted. 
There  is  reason  to  believe,  for  example,  that  a  system 
of  sensori-motor  arcs  exists  intermediate  between  those 
of  the  two  levels  already  described.  It  is  known  that 
there  is  a  relatively  small  number  of  motor  cells  in 
and  around  some  of  the  sensory  areas  in  the  cortex, 
especially  the  areas  for  vision  and  touch.  Some  im- 
pulses that  have  reached  the  sensory  areas,  therefore, 
find  their  way  back  to  the  muscles  without  going 
through  the  association  areas.  When  this  happens  the 
resulting  action  is  of  the  kind  known  as  sensation  re- 
flexes. Examples  of  sensation  reflexes  are  sneezing, 
coughing,  turning  of  the  head  and  eyes  in  the  direc- 
tion of  flashes  of  light.  Such  actions  are  accompanied 
by  vague  consciousness  of  the  stimulating  object,  but 
follow  the  stimulus  immediately  in  a  similar  manner 
to  the  reflexes  of  the  lower  level. 

If  we  add  this  type  of  sensori-motor  arc  to  our  list, 
the  entire  nervous  system  may  be  represented  by  the 
accompanying  diagram  (Fig.  11),  each  level  of  arcs 
being  represented  by  a  loop  on  the  one  next  below  it. 
The  lowest  level  is  relatively  simple  and  consists  of 
few  neurones;  the  action  resulting  is  direct  and  has  no 
connection  with  consciousness.  The  third-level  arcs, 
on  the  other  hand,  are  very  complex,  involve  many 
neurones,  and  the  action  is  delayed  and  fully  conscious. 
The  second-level  arcs  occupy  an  intermediate  position 
in  all  these  respects. 


THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM 


35 


Brain  weight  and  intelligence.  —  The  characteristic 
accompaniment  of  consciousness  belongs,  as  far  as  we 
know,  only  to  the  functioning  of  those  sensori-motor 

Association  areas 

Level  3.    Higher    mental 
processes 


Level  Z.  Sensation 
reflex 

Cerebral  CorteX 
not  including 
association  areas 


Level  I.  Keflex 


■*Gray  matter  of 
spinal  cord  or 
of  basal  ganglia 


Muscle 


Sensory   surfao* 


Fia.  11.    Schematic  representation  of  nervous  system  regarded  as 
made  up  of  three  levels  of  sensori-motor  arcs. 


paths  of  the  higher  levels,  which  reach  the  cerebrum, 
and  this  fact  is  what  gives  the  brain  its  significance 
as  the  organ  of  intelligence.  In  the  course  of  animal 
development  the  brain  becomes  increasingly  heavier 
as  intelligence  increases.     The  following  table  shows 


36 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


the  increase  in  brain  weight  relatively  to  bodily  weight 
among  the  vertebrates,  from  fishes  to  man : 


Fishes 

Reptiles. . . 

Birds 

Mammals. 

Ourang 

Man 


5,000 

1,500 

220 

180 

120 

50 


The  cerebrum  and  intelligence.  —  Large  as  this  in- 
crease in  the  relative  brain  weight  is  as  we  go  upward 


Fig.  12.  Showing  relative  development  of  fore-brain,  mid-brain 
and  hind-brain  in  the  various  orders  of  animals  from  amphioxus  to 
man.  cr,  cerebrum;  ol,  olfactory  lobe;  cb,  cerebellum;  m,  medulla. 
(After  Leconte.) 

in  the  scale  of  animal  evolution,  there  is  even  a  more 
marked  increase  in  the  size  of  the  cerebrum  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  rest  of  the  brain.  Fig.  12  shows 
to  what  an  extent  this  is  true,  and  especially  in  the 
case  of  man.  The  true  significance  of  the  relatively 
large  cerebral  hemispheres  in  man  may  be  understood 
by  a  comparison  of  the  way  in  which  the  higher  and 
lower  sensori-motor  arcs  begin  to  function.    The  latter 


THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM  37 

are  capable  of  functioning  as  soon  as  the  animal  is 
born,  or  soon  afterward.  They  represent  fixed  modes 
of  action  that  have  been  inherited  by  the  animal  as 
a  part  of  his  nervous  structure.  The  sensory  and 
motor  neurones  are  organized  from  the  beginning; 
that  is,  they  act  as  a  connected  whole.  They  bring 
about  activities  which  in  the  long  history  of  the  race 
have  been  useful  in  a  relatively  unchanging  environ- 
ment. Such  actions  are  usually  fixed  and  invariable. 
The  cerebral  centers,  on  the  other  hand,  are  extremely 
plastic,  that  is,  capable  of  being  molded.  They  contain 
many  neurones  whose  connections  with  other  neurones 
have  not  been  made  at  birth,  making  possible  the  or- 
ganization of  new  sensori-motor  paths.  What  these 
paths  shall  be  depends  not  so  much  upon  the  animal's 
inheritance  as  upon  his  own  experience.  In  a  word, 
the  cerebral  hemispheres  represent  the  physiological 
basis  for  the  learning  process. 

Meaning  of  infancy.  —  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that 
those  animals  that  can  perform  at  birth,  or  shortly 
afterward,  the  larger  number  of  all  the  activities  that 
their  life  conditions  make  it  necessary  for  them  to 
perform,  attain  a  comparatively  low  grade  of  intelli- 
gence. Their  actions  are  comparatively  fixed  and  in- 
variable, and  they  have  little  power  of  learning.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  relatively  large  amount  of  plastic 
material  in  man's  cerebral  hemispheres  makes  the  or- 
ganization of  new  paths  not  only  possible,  but  neces- 
sary, if  his  behavior  is  to  be  intelligent  rather  than 


38  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

merely  instinctive.  The  long  period  of  infancy  in  man 
is  thus  a  period  during  which  education  becomes  a 
virtual  necessity. 

Compare,  for  example,  the  life  history  of  such  an  ani- 
mal as  the  chick  with  that  of  man  in  this  respect. 
The  chick,  shortly  after  being  hatched,  can  do  prac- 
tically all  that  the  mother  hen  can  do.  It  is  not  de- 
pendent for  a  long  period,  as  is  the  child,  upon  its 
parents;  the  period  of  its  infancy  is  very  short.  The 
long  period  of  infancy  of  the  child,  however,  gives 
him.  a  great  advantage  over  the  chick  in  what  he  is 
eventually  able  to  do.  The  chick  learns  to  do  little  or 
nothing  new  and  has  a  narrow  range  of  possibilities. 
The  child's  inborn  organized  responses  are  merely  the 
beginning  points  for  innumerable  activities  suitable  to 
cope  with  the  varied  nature  of  his  future  environment. 

Physical  basis  of  intelligence.  —  While  it  is  true,  as 
has  been  stated,  that  in  the  order  of  development  there 
is  general  relationship  of  correspondence  between  intel- 
ligence and  the  size  and  weight  of  the  brain,  one  cannot 
rightly  conclude  that  the  intelligence  is  dependent  upon 
these  factors  in  individual  cases,  although  it  is  prob- 
able that,  on  the  average,  more  intelligent  persons 
have  heavier  brains  than  those  who  are  less  intelligent. 
Many  other  factors,  such  as  complexity,  quality  of  the 
finer  nervous  elements,  must  enter  into  consideration ; 
and  even  in  these  respects  it  is  not  possible  with  our 
present  knowledge  to  say  exactly  what  these  physical 
bases  of  mental  capacity  are.     Doubtless  pure  and 


THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM  39 

abundant  blood  supply  is  of  great  importance  in  this 
connection;  for  the  neurone,  like  all  other  cells  of  the 
body,  derives  its  energy  and  power  of  growth  from  the 
blood.  This  factor  of  brain  development,  fortunately, 
may  be  controlled  to  a  large  extent  by  proper  nourish- 
ment and  exercise. 

Brain  development.  —  The  number  of  neurones,  or 
nervous  elements,  in  a  person's  body  is  fixed  at  birth 
and  does  not  increase  in  later  life.  The  development 
that  takes  place  consists  simply  in  an  increase  in  the 
size  and  complexity  of  those  neurones  already  present, 
and  in  the  forming  of  new  connections  between  the 
various  neurones.  Many  of  the  neurones,  especially 
those  in  the  cerebral  cortex,  are  at  birth  imperfect,  be- 
cause they  lack  certain  protective  tissues  that  are  es- 
sential to  their  functioning.  The  increase  of  the  brain 
in  size  and  weight  practically  ceases  at  about  the  age 
of  eight  or  nine  years. 

The  purpose  of  education  is  to  control  behavior.  — 
One  especially  important  aspect  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem in  its  relation  to  education  remains  to  be  em- 
phasized. Our  study  of  the  nervous  system  has  shown 
that  it  exists  for  the  especial  purpose  of  bringing  about 
muscular  activity.  Wherever  nervous  impulses  occur 
they  are  found  to  pass  over  sensori-motor  arcs  to  mus- 
cles, and  to  result  in  changes  of  behavior,  using  this 
term  in  its  widest  possible  meaning.  Some  of  these 
sensori-motor  arcs  function  without  the  intervention 
of  consciousness.    Others,  of  a  higher  level,  are  accom- 


40  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

panied  by  consciousness  when  the  nervous  impulse 
traverses  them.  In  all  cases,  however,  the  ultimate  goal 
of  the  process  is  its  transformation  into  muscular  ac- 
tivity. Even  consciousness,  therefore,  seems  to  exist 
not  so  much  for  its  own  sake  as  for  it  relationship  to 
behavior.  Such  considerations  tend  to  put  the  em- 
phasis in  education  on  training  the  child  to  useful  and 
correct  modes  of  response  rather  than  on  the  acquiring 
of  a  fund  of  knowledge.  This  point  of  view  has  been 
splendidly  brought  out  by  James  in  his  "Talks  to 
Teachers"  in  the  following  statement: 

Man  is  an  organism  for  reacting  on  impressions; 
his  mind  is  there  to  help  determine  his  reactions,  and 
the  purpose  of  his  education  is  to  make  them  numer- 
ous and  perfect.  Our  education  means,  in  short,  little 
more  than  a  mass  of  possibilities  of  reaction,  acquired 
at  home,  at  school,  or  in  the  training  of  affairs.  The 
teacher's  task  is  that  of  supervising  the  acquiring 
process. 

References 

Angell,  J.  R.    Introduction  to  Psychology.    Chapter 

III.     (Holt,  1918.) 
Freeman,  F.  N.    How  Children  Learn.    Chapter  II. 

(Houghton  Mifflin,  1917.) 
Judd,  C.  H.    Psychology.    Chapters  II,  III,  VI.    (Ginn 

1917.) 
MacDougall,  W.    Physiological  Psychology.    (Dent.) 


CHAPTER  III 
BEHAVIOR— NATIVE  AND  ACQUIRED 

Unlearned  activities.  —  The  relation  that  conscious- 
ness has  to  action  may  perhaps  be  seen  best  by  a  con- 
sideration of  behavior  that  is  relatively  unconscious. 
All  animals  are  born  capable  of  performing  certain 
activities,  and  as  they  grow  older  the  number  of  these 
unlearned  activities  increases.  The  vital  processes  of 
breathing,  digestion,  and  circulation  of  the  blood  are 
present  at  birth,  and  continue  without  any  necessity 
of  conscious  control.  From  the  outset  the  child  re- 
sponds to  contact  with  the  lips  by  the  sucking  move- 
ment. These  and  many  other  activities  that  the  child 
performs  without  having  to  learn  them  are  clearly  the 
means  that  nature  has  taken  to  insure  his  survival. 

Physical  basis  of  unlearned  activities.  —  Since  mus- 
cles are  never  active  except  as  stimulated  to  action  by 
the  nervous  system,  we  must  look  for  the  explanation 
of  these  unlearned  activities  in  the  condition  of  the 
nervous  system.  The  nervous  mechanisms  for  per- 
forming those  activities  that  are  present  at  birth  must 
be  there  from  the  beginning,  ready  to  do  their  work. 
Nervous  mechanisms  ready  to  function  are  organized 
sensori-motor  arcs.     By  an   organized   sensori-motor 

41 


42        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

path  is  meant  one  in  which  the  parts  (that  is,  the  neu- 
rones) are  so  thoroughly  connected  that  they  work 
together  as  a  unit.  The  synapses  that  form  the  con- 
nections between  neurones  offer  varying  degrees  of 
resistance  to  the  neural  impulse.  If  the  resistance  is 
igreat,  so  that  the  impulse  cannot  pass  readily  from 
one  neurone  to  another,  the  sensori-motor  arc  is  to  that 
degree  unorganized.  In  the  case  of  those  sensori-motor 
arcs  that  are  the  mechanism  for  bringing  about  un- 
learned activities,  on  the  other  hand,  the  synaptic  con- 
nections offer  little  or  no  resistance  to  the  nervous  cur- 
rent, because  they  are  inherited  in  that  form. 

Consciousness  and  organization.  —  In  general,  it 
may  be  said  that  the  better  organized  is  the  neural 
mechanism  for  bringing  about  any  activity,  the  less 
conscious  is  its  performance.  Activities  that  do  not 
have  to  be  learned  are  made  relatively  unconsciously. 
This  does  not  mean  that  no  consciousness  whatever 
attends  the  functioning  of  well-organized  sensori-motor 
arcs;  but  the  activities  that  result  are  not  initiated  and 
guided  by  consciousness,  as  seems  to  be  true  of  other 
classes  of  movements.  The  consciousness  that  accom- 
panies them  is  usually  a  consciousness  of  the  move- 
ments having  been  performed  rather  than  of  their  being 
about  to  be  performed.  The  action  seems  to  take  place 
of  itself,  and  is  then  reported  to  consciousness.  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  this  class  of  actions  is  often  called 
involuntary. 


BEHAVIOR— NATIVE  AND  ACQUIRED  43 

Automatic  activities.  —  Unlearned  activities  may- 
be classified  as  automatic,  reflex,  and  instinctive,  al- 
though no  hard  and  fast  line  may  be  drawn  between 
them.  Automatic  movements  consist  of  the  internal 
activities,  like  those  of  breathing,  circulation,  and  di- 
gestion, which  are  present  from  birth  and  continue 
without  conscious  direction  throughout  our  lives.  The 
organized  sensori-motor  arcs  controlling  the  action  of 
the  heart,  lungs,  and  glands  are  aroused  to  action  by- 
changes  within  the  body  itself.  Nature  has  provided 
that  these  processes  should  go  on  independently  of  con- 
sciousness because  of  their  fundamental  importance  to 
life. 

Reflex  activities.  —  Reflex  actions  are  simple  activi- 
ties following  directly  upon  external  stimulation. 
While  the  sensory  excitation  for  automatic  movements 
comes  from  within  the  body,  that  for  reflexes  comes 
from  without.  The  reflexes  include  such  activities  as 
sneezing,  coughing,  the  involuntary  winking  of  the  eye 
when  an  object  approaches  it,  the  expansion  and  con- 
traction of  the  pupil  of  the  eye  with  the  changing 
intensity  of  light,  etc.  Movements  that  are  usually 
automatic  or  reflex  may  sometimes  be  controlled  con- 
sciously, as  when  the  breathing  movements  are  checked 
or  made  faster,  or  when  the  eye  is  winked  voluntarily. 
In  these  cases  the  movements  are  brought  about  by 
higher  level  sensori-motor  arcs  than  those  used  when 
the  movements  are  not  consciously  controlled.  The 
reflex  and  automatic  activities  are,  however,  little  sub- 


44  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

ject  to  modification,  being  fixed  responses  to  fixed  con- 
ditions. They  are,  therefore,  of  relatively  little  im- 
portance for  education. 

Instinctive  activities.  —  The  largest  and  most  im- 
portant class  of  actions  that  are  made  without  learn- 
ing is  the  instinctive.  While  these  are  difficult  to  dis- 
tinguish from  the  reflexes,  they  are  in  general  more 
complex  and  require  a  longer  time  for  their  perform- 
ance. Furthermore,  they  involve  such  a  large  amount 
of  purposefulness  and  are  so  adequate  for  the  life  con- 
ditions of  the  organism  as  to  give  the  impression  that 
they  are  guided  by  intelligence.  Nevertheless,  it  is 
certain  that  these  instinctive  activities  are  as  truly 
the  result  of  inherited  nervous  structure  as  are  the 
simpler  reflex  and  automatic  movements. 

The  instincts  are  found  in  pure  form  among  the 
lower  animals  to  a  much  greater  degree  than  in  man, 
it  being  agreed  by  the  closest  animal  observers  that 
most  of  their  activity  is  of  instinctive  origin  and  re- 
mains so.  Some  of  the  instincts  of  the  lower  animals, 
such  as,  for  example,  ants  and  bees,  have  been  studied 
in  great  detail.  The  way  in  which  ants  and  bees  re- 
turn to  their  nests  after  wandering  from  them  a  long 
distance  is  a  matter  that  awakens  our  wonder.  It 
has  been  shown,  however,  that  these  animals  are  not 
able  to  change  their  route  when  even  very  slight 
changes  are  made  in  their  environment.  When  a  bee's 
nest  is  turned  slightly  around,  for  example,  it  is  un- 
able to  find  the  entrance. 


BEHAVIOR— NATIVE  AND  ACQUIRED  45 

This  illustration  shows  one  of  the  most  striking  char- 
acteristics of  instincts,  namely,  their  invariableness. 
Instinctive  behavior  is  suited  only  for  relatively  fixed 
conditions.  A  careful  observer  of  animal  behavior  has 
made  the  remark  that  "instinct  is  that  on  which  you 
can  safely  bet."  Animals  of  a  certain  species  perform 
their  activities  in  practically  the  same  manner,  and 
without  having  to  learn  them.  Bees,  for  example,  go 
through  the  process  of  swarming,  making  cells,  depos- 
iting eggs,  etc.,  all  without  previous  training.  Birds 
of  a  certain  species  build  their  nests  in  a  certain  way 
and  in  a  certain  place,  and  the  manner  and  place  do 
not  vary  to  any  great  extent. 

Even  in  the  lower  animals,  however,  instinct  is  fre- 
quently subject  to  some  modification,  so  that  the  action 
loses  its  purely  instinctive  character.  Whenever  an 
animal  performs  an  action  instinctively  for  the  first 
time,  the  action  is  blind ;  that  is,  there  is  no  knowledge 
of  the  result  or  the  end  of  the  act.  But  in  an  animal 
that  has  memory  the  subsequent  performance  of  this 
act  will  be  in  some  degree  intelligent;  the  animal  will 
know  in  advance  the  end  of  the  action,  and  its  behavior 
may  be  modified  accordingly.  In  the  case  of  human 
beings,  therefore,  little  of  adult  behavior  can  be  re- 
garded as  purely  instinctive.  The  modification  of  the 
child's  instinctive  actions  so  as  to  make  them  suited  to 
our  educational  ideals  is  an  important  function  of  edu- 
cation. The  instincts  are  the  stock  in  trade  with  which 
the  child  begins  his  commerce  with   the  world  and 


46         PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

which  the  educator  may  use  as  a  basis  for  future  be- 
havior. 

Deferred  instincts.  — The  nervous  mechanisms  for 
bringing  about  instinctive  reactions  are  not  ready  in 
all  cases  to  function  at  birth.  Each  instinct  has  its 
time  for  maturing,  and  in  man  a  number  of  the  in- 
stincts do  not  appear  in  full  strength  until  quite  late 
in  life,  as  is  the  case  with  the  sexual  instinct.  It  is 
important  for  those  who  have  charge  of  the  training 
of  the  young  to  watch  for  the  appearance  of  the  vari- 
ous instinctive  tendencies.  If  these  instincts  are  useful 
forms  of  response  under  the  conditions  of  modern  so- 
ciety, they  should  be  encouraged;  if  not,  they  should 
be  suppressed  or  modified. 

Waxing  and  waning  of  instincts.  —  Many  attempts 
have  been  made  to  discover  the  order  in  which  the 
various  instincts  mature,  and  to  determine  the  ages  at 
which  they  make  their  appearance.  These  attempts 
have  been  largely  unsuccessful.  Since  the  instincts  are 
so  much  subject  to  modification,  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  separate  the  learned  from  the  unlearned  activities. 
The  time  of  appearance  and  order  of  development  of 
instinct  is  in  part  determined  by  the  varying  circum- 
stances of  the  lives  of  different  individuals. 

The  instinctive  fear  of  dogs,  for  example,  will  be 
present  in  the  life  of  one  child  at  an  age  when  another 
has  never  been  placed  in  a  situation  to  call  it  forth. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  may  apparently  never  be  present 
if  the  circumstances  are  so  favorable  that  it  is  modified 


BEHAVIOR— NATIVE  AND  ACQUIRED  47 

from  the  beginning.  Great  differences  must  be  ex- 
pected, therefore,  in  the  time  at  which  instinctive  ten- 
dencies manifest  themselves.  Sometimes  they  seem  to 
appear  and  disappear  suddenly.  At  other  times  they 
gradually  wax  and  wane. 

Ways  in  which  instincts  become  modified.  —  An  in- 
stinctive reaction  may  often  be  suppressed  or  modified 
if  the  conditions  are  not  present  to  encourage  it  when 
it  first  makes  its  appearance.  In  dogs  the  instinctive 
activity  of  burying  bones  has  been  known  to  be  sup- 
pressed simply  by  keeping  the  animal  indoors  where 
the  scratching  movements  find  no  encouragement.  In 
such  cases  the  scratching  may  go  on  for  a  few  days, 
but  will  eventually  cease  and  probably  never  appear 
again.  Disuse  cannot,  however,  always  be  counted  on 
to  be  effective,  especially  when  the  instinct  is  very 
strong.  In  other  cases  the  conditions  may  be  such  as 
merely  to  modify  the  instinct  rather  than  to  suppress 
it  entirely.  Lloyd  Morgan  has  described  how  chickens 
that  were  hatched  in  an  incubator  followed  him  in  the 
same  manner  as  they  would  have  followed  the  hen, 
had  there  been  one  present.  The  instinct  fastens  it- 
self to  the  most  suitable  stimulus  present  at  the  time 
of  its  maturing,  and  continues  in  this  form.  Provid- 
ing a  substitute  stimulus  for  the  natural  one,  in  those 
cases  where  the  instinctive  tendency  in  its  original  form 
is  undesirable,  is  in  many  instances  the  best  method  of 
dealing  with  the  instinctive  tendencies  of  children. 

Modification  of  instincts  by  means  of  their  effects. 


48        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

—  It  is  a  fundamental  law  of  the  mental  life  that  any 
activity  that  has  pleasurable  results  tends  to  be  re- 
peated, while  one  that  has  unpleasant  consequences  will 
be  repressed.  This  law  holds  not  only  when  the  agree- 
ableness  or  disagreeableness  of  the  action  is  its  direct 
effect,  but  also  when  it  comes  as  an  indirect  result. 
For  example,  dogs  undoubtedly  derive  instinctive  satis- 
faction from  barking  at  passing  vehicles;  but  if  a  dog 
is  whipped  each  time  the  barking  takes  place,  the  dis- 
agreeable results  of  the  whipping  are  so  strongly 
associated  with  the  whole  situation  that  usually  the 
barking  may  be  suppressed  in  this  way.  Instinctive 
tendencies,  may,  therefore,  be  suppressed  by  associating 
them  with  disagreeable  results,  or  they  may  be  en- 
couraged by  associating  them  with  experiences  from 
which  pleasure  is  derived. 

Modification  of  instincts  inevitable.  —  Since  instinc- 
tive actions  are  a  part  of  man's  inherited  equipment 
for  successfully  meeting  life's  demands,  it  may  be 
questioned  whether  it  is  wise  to  seek  to  modify  in- 
stinctive behavior  in  the  young.  Educational  writers 
like  Rousseau,  who  urge  us  to  follow  nature  in  educa- 
tion, seem  to  imply  that  the  child  should  be  allowed 
to  follow  the  natural  instinctive  tendencies  without 
hampering  or  attempt  at  modification.  It  must  be  re- 
membered, however,  that  it  is  not  only  natural  for  man 
to  act  instinctively,  but  it  is  also  natural  and  inevitable 
for  him  to  modify  his  instinctive  behavior.  It  becomes, 
then,  a  question  of  whether  the  child's  original  instinc- 


BEHAVIOR— NATIVE  AND  ACQUIRED  49 

tive  nature  should  be  changed  as  a  result  of  haphazard 
experiences,  or  whether  the  adult  should  undertake  the 
responsibility  of  selecting  for  the  child  the  experiences 
deemed  the  best  for  his  development.  Unless  the  latter 
is  done,  all  purposeful  education  must  be  abandoned. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  easy  to  make  the  mistake  of 
attempting  to  ignore  or  utterly  repress  the  child's  in- 
stinctive nature.  If  instincts  are  not  always  right,  as 
Rousseau  seems  to  imply,  it  is  also  true  that  they  are 
not  inherently  wrong.  Man  has  set  for  himself  stand- 
ards of  action  which  require  that  he  shall  not  live  on 
a  purely  instinctive  level.  In  so  far  as  the  instincts 
conflict  with  these  standards  they  need  to  be  modified, 
but  the  instincts  themselves  could  not  be  ignored  even 
if  it  were  desirable. 

List  of  human  instincts.  —  The  number  of  instinc- 
tive responses  in  human  beings  is  not  small,  though,  as 
we  have  seen,  they  are  less  likely  to  remain  purely  in- 
stinctive than  in  the  case  of  the  lower  animals.  Among 
the  most  important  of  human  instincts  are  fear,  anger, 
curiosity,  manipulation,  play,  imitation,  constructive- 
ness,  ownership,  rivalry,  fighting,  food-getting,  gregari- 
ousness  and  the  sexual  instinct.  Some  of  these,  which 
are  oY  especial  interest  and  importance  in  regard  to 
education,  will  be  described  in  the  following  para- 
graphs. 

Fear.  —  Fear  and  curiosity  are  two  opposed  instinc- 
tive tendencies  of  a  fundamental  kind.  The  tendency 
to  move  toward  what  may  be  of  advantage,  and  the 


50  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

tendency  to  move  away  from  what  is  harmful,  are 
present  in  the  lowest  species  of  animals.  In  man  these 
reactions  take  many  different  forms  and  may  be  ac- 
companied by  very  complex  forms  of  emotional  con- 
sciousness. Purely  instinctive  fear  is  likely  to  make  its 
appearance  in  children  in  connection  with  loud  and 
sudden  noises,  darkness,  solitude,  strange  and  unfamil- 
iar objects,  especially  furry  animals.  The  fear  of  fall- 
ing and  the  fear  of  high  places  are  also  very  common. 
In  many  children  these  fears  are  clearly  of  instinctive 
origin  and  not  due  to  unpleasant  experiences.  Fre- 
quently, however,  the  fears  of  young  children  are  due 
to  painful  experiences  of  their  own,  or  are  suggested 
through  imitation  of  others,  especially  parents.  Among 
the  most  marked  motor  effects  of  fear  are  changes  in 
the  rate  of  breathing  and  of  the  heart-beat;  running 
away;  remaining  in  a  tense  attitude  without  moving 
and  crying  out.  Many  fears,  especially  in  younger  chil- 
dren, need  kind  and  sympathetic  treatment  from  parent 
and  teacher.  Fear  of  dogs,  for  example,  in  a  child  may 
be  so  strong  as  to  make  life  miserable,  and  often  time 
alone  and  a  gradually  increasing  familiarity  will  suf- 
fice to  rid  the  child  of  this  bugaboo.  Shyness  is  a  form 
of  fear  that  occurs  frequently  in  younger  children,  and 
one  that,  even  under  encouraging  treatment,  fre- 
quently needs  a  long  time  to  overcome. 

To  what  extent  fear  should  be  used  as  a  motive  in 
the  training  of  children  is  a  question  of  moment,  the 
pros  and  cons  of  which  have  been  much  debated.    It 


BEHAVIOR— NATIVE  AND  ACQUIRED  51 

is  clear  that  the  appeal  to  fear  of  punishment,  espe- 
cially of  physical  pain,  does  not  furnish  a  high  motive 
for  action.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fundamental  char- 
acter of  such  appeals  makes  them  frequently  successful 
where  higher  motives  fail,  and  when  judiciously  used 
fear  may  become  one  of  the  most  useful  sources  of 
training.  It  may  be  questioned  whether  absolute  fear- 
lessness is  a  desirable  characteristic  in  any  individual. 
That  sort  of  refined  fear  which  consists  in  respect  for 
duly  constituted  authority  may  easily  be  undervalued. 
Curiosity.  —  Curiosity  is  an  expression  of  a  tendency 
quite  the  opposite  of  fear.  Whereas  fear  leads  to  with- 
drawal from  that  which  is  feared,  curiosity  prompts 
action  toward  the  object  concerned.  Even  in  those 
cases  where  the  object  of  the  person's  curiosity  is  not 
external  but  of  an  intellectual  sort,  the  attitude  is  the 
same,  that  is,  one  of  seeking  rather  than  of  shunning. 
The  strength  of  this  instinct,  especially  in  children,  is 
very  great.  It  begins  perhaps  in  the  fixed  stare  of  the 
infant  a  few  months  of  age,  and  continues  in  the  cease- 
less activity  and  questioning  of  a  later  stage.  A  fre- 
quent form  in  which  curiosity  manifests  itself  is  de- 
structiveness,  where  the  motive  is  to  discover  how 
things  are  made  and  how  they  work.  At  a  still  later 
period  this  instinct  may  take  the  form  of  desire  to  travel 
and  to  read  books  of  travel.  Even  some  cases  of  tru- 
ancy may  be  regarded  as  due  to  a  sort  of  migratory  in- 
stinct, at  the  basis  of  which  is  the  desire  to  see  and 
hear  what  is  new.    To  keep  alive  the  questioning  atti- 


52  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

tude  of  the  child  along  lines  that  are  of  intellectual 
value  is  one  of  the  great  tasks  of  the  educator.  Chil- 
dren's problems  and  questions  should  be  sympathet- 
ically treated,  and  especially  should  the  spirit  of  intel- 
lectual inquiry  be  fostered  rather  than  stifled  by  appeals 
to  authority;  for  perhaps  no  other  characteristic  is  so 
indicative  of  a  person's  intellectual  promise  as  his  de- 
sire to  know. 

Imitation.  —  Imitation,  play,  and  constructiveness 
are  closely  allied  activities  of  great  importance  to 
human  life  and  progress.  Imitation  is  one  form  in 
which  a  very  fundamental  psychological  law  finds  its 
expression.  It  has  already  been  frequently  emphasized 
that  movements  are  the  normal  accompaniments  of 
all  our  conscious  processes.  When  the  conscious  proc- 
ess is  itself  the  perception  of  a  movement  or  the  idea 
of  a  movement,  the  tendency  to  perform  a  similar 
movement  is  especially  marked.  The  imitation  of  their 
elders  by  children,  together  with  the  transmission  of 
ideas  through  language,  which  is  itself  handed  down 
from  one  generation  to  another  through  imitation, 
makes  for  permanence  and  progress  in  institutions  and 
customs.  The  lower  animals,  having  practically  no 
capacity  for  either  language  or  imitation,  are  deprived 
of  these  means  of  progress. 

The  purely  instinctive  forms  of  imitation  are  prob- 
ably fewer  than  ordinarily  supposed,  as  Thorndike  has 
shown,  though  a  limited  number  of  such  activities  are 
present  from  the  beginning  of  life.    Babies  a  few  weeks 


BEHAVIOR— NATIVE  AND  ACQUIRED  53 

old,  for  example,  will  smile  in  response  to  a  smile.  It 
must  not  be  supposed  that  such  imitation  is  in  any 
sense  consciously  directed.  The  activity  comes  spon- 
taneously, as  when  a  person  yawns  and  the  person  who 
observes  him  does  the  same.  The  first  words  spoken 
by  the  child  are  also  probably  quite  largely  the  result 
of  spontaneous  imitation. 

The  spontaneous  form  of  imitation  rapidly  trans- 
forms itself  into  a  voluntary  form  when  the  imitator 
purposely  executes  a  movement  similar  to  that  which 
he  has  observed.  The  more  developed  form  of  imita- 
tion, however,  cannot  be  entirely  separated  from  the 
more  purely  instinctive  form.  The  tendency  for  an 
observed  act  to  result  spontaneously  in  a  similar  act  is 
always  present,  and  its  effect  is  to  prompt  the 
process  of  learning.  In  imitating  others,  not  only  does 
the  child  learn  to  act  in  new  ways,  but  he  learns  to  ap- 
preciate how  other  people  feel  and  what  they  are  striv- 
ing for  in  their  activity.  Imitation  is  thus  a  source  of 
social  appreciation.  Children  tend  both  consciously 
and  unconsciously  to  imitate  the  speech  and  manners 
of  older  persons,  especially  those  whom  they  most  ad- 
mire, making  the  personality  of  the  teacher  a  matter 
of  the  utmost  importance. 

Play.  —  The  value  of  the  instinct  of  play  in  the  men- 
tal development  of  the  young  cannot  be  emphasized 
too  much.  Play  finds  favorable  conditions  for  its  ex- 
pression in  the  surplus  energy  characteristic  of  youth, 
but  it  often  appears,  especially  among  adults,  as  a 


54        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

means  of  recuperation  from  fatigue.  The  true  sig- 
nificance of  instinctive  play  may  perhaps  be  seen  best, 
however,  by  considering  the  play  of  the  lower  animals. 
Most  of  the  lower  animals  develop  forms  of  play  that 
are  characteristic  of  the  species  to  which  the  animals  be- 
long. It  would  seem  that  these  playful  activities  are 
definitely  related  to  the  adult  activities  of  the  same 
species  of  animal.  The  play  of  the  kitten  may  be 
taken  as  an  example  of  this  fact.  It  has  been  pointed 
out  that  the  play  of  the  kitten  brings  into  play  the  very 
activities  that  are  used  in  its  later  life  as  a  mouse- 
catcher.  From  this  point  of  view,  play  is  a  preparation 
during  the  leisure  of  the  young  for  the  serious  ac- 
tivities of  later  life.  That  this  is  true  in  the  life  of 
the  child  need  hardly  be  pointed  out  in  detail.  Through 
play  more  than  anything  else  the  child  learns  to  know 
the  world  of  objects  around  him,  and  how  to  use  them. 
In  play,  too,  the  child's  imagination  and  ideational  ac- 
tivity are  continually  being  brought  into  use,  and  thus 
his  thinking  faculty  is  developed.  Children  engage  in 
forms  of  play,  like  the  running  and  jumping  and  ball 
games,  that  are  remarkably  similar  in  all  races.  Such 
play  is  especially  effective  in  the  training  of  the  body 
and  in  physical  development.  Many  forms  of  play, 
on  the  other  hand,  are  peculiar  to  a  particular  race  or 
environment,  and  are  imitative  of  adult  pursuits.  From 
this  point  of  view,  play  must  be  regarded  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  serious  activities  of  later  life  during  the 
leisure  period  of  youth. 


BEHAVIOR— NATIVE  AND  ACQUIRED  55 

Stages  of  development  of  play.  —  Ordinary  observa- 
tion of  children's  play  shows  that  it  takes  different  pre- 
ferred forms  at  different  ages.  The  baby  is  delighted 
with  bright  colors,  loud  and  novel  sounds,  and  other 
forms  of  sensory  experience,  especially  when  these  ex- 
periences are  associated  with  movements  that  he  makes 
himself,  as  in  the  case  of  the  rattle.  Movements  are 
repeated  over  and  over  again  just  for  the  sake  of  the 
pleasure  they  give.  Witness  the  pleasure  of  the  young 
child  in  repeatedly  dropping  a  spoon,  or  in  tearing 
or  rustling  a  newspaper.  In  this  way  the  baby  learns  to 
recognize  his  own  body  and  the  qualities  of  objects 
with  which  he  comes  into  daily  contact,  as  well  as  vari- 
ous ways  of  manipulating  them.  As  he  grows  older  he 
takes  greater  and  greater  interest  in  producing  effects 
upon  objects  and  in  manipulating  them.  Children  de- 
rive their  enjoyment  from  playthings,  for  the  most 
part,  because  of  the  possibility  of  doing  something  to 
them  which  produces  a  novel  result.  Toys  are  con- 
structed on  this  principle.  One  other  feature  of  the  toy 
is  that  it  frequently  represents  something  with  which  a 
child  is  familiar  but  in  a  form  that  he  can  handle  and 
"make  go,"  as,  for  example,  the  toy  horse.  More  and 
more  as  the  child  grows  older  manipulation  takes  the 
form  of  various  kinds  of  building  and  construction.  At 
the  same  time,  imitation  and  imagination  are  giving 
rise  to  an  emphasis  on  dramatic  forms  of  play. 

By  the  time  the  child  reaches  school  age  he  feels  a 
definite  need  for  companionship  in  play,  and  through- 


56  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

out  the  elementary  school  period  a  strongly  competitive 
element  is  present,  though  at  first  the  rivalry  is  be- 
tween individuals.  Toward  the  end  of  this  period  there 
begins  to  develop  the  interest  in  team  competition  in 
the  case  of  boys  and  in  clubs  in  the  case  of  girls.  In- 
terest in  intellectual  forms  of  games  makes  its  appear- 
ance also  during  this  period.  From  the  time  of  adoles- 
cence, team  play,  with  its  necessary  accompaniments 
of  leadership  and  cooperation,  becomes  predominant. 
Intellectual  play  also  increases  in  importance  from  this 
time  onward. 

Constructiveness.  —  Play  and  imitation  both  find 
frequent  expression  in  the  activity  of  construction. 
Since  this  activity  is  present  in  adult  life  as  a  separate 
activity  from  play  and  imitation,  and  since  it  is  also 
found  among  the  lower  animals,  it  may  be  regarded  as 
a  distinct  instinctive  tendency.  In  adult  human  life, 
however,  its  purely  instinctive  character  is  largely  lost, 
while  in  the  lower  animals  it  is  restricted  to  definite 
forms  of  structures,  such  as  the  nests  of  birds,  or  the 
hives  and  honeycomb  of  bees,  or  the  dams  and  dwell- 
ing-places of  beavers.  The  great  importance  of  this 
instinct  for  mental  development  arises  (1)  from  the  in- 
creased efficiency  that  comes  from  the  habits  developed 
in  the  process  of  construction;  (2)  from  the  increased 
knowledge  due  to  the  accurate  and  precise  observation 
of  materials  necessary  for  successful  construction,  and 
(3)  from  the  encouragement  of  new  ideas  and  the  de- 
velopment of  these  ideas  through  making  them  definite 


BEHAVIOR— NATIVE  AND  ACQUIRED  57 

in  the  form  of  the  constructed  work.  The  value  of 
constructive  kinds  of  school  work,  like  manual  training 
in  its  various  branches,  drawing,  etc.,  is  therefore  accu- 
racy of  muscular  adjustment,  the  development  of  pre- 
cise powers  of  observation,  and  the  cultivation  of  a 
form  of  imagination  that  is  being  continually  tested 
by  the  practical  results. 

Ownership.  — The  desire  to  collect  and  own  things 
is  clearly  instinctive,  both  in  many  of  the  lower  animals 
and  in  the  child.  But  the  form  this  instinct  takes  in 
the  lower  animals  is  largely  restricted  to  the  storing 
away  of  surplus  food,  while  the  child's  desire  for  owner- 
ship may  take  many  directions.  Ownership  becomes 
an  incentive  for  work,  and  thus  has  a  great  effect  on 
mental  development.  The  instinct  may  be  useful  in 
the  education  of  children  if  the  child  is  encouraged 
to  make  collections  that  become  the  source  of  infor- 
mation, like  the  collection  of  stamps  and  scientific 
specimens.  These  collections  may  also  readily  be 
made  the  occasion  for  the  teaching  of  the  importance 
of  neatness  and  order. 

Rivalry.  —  Rivalry,  or  emulation,  belongs  to  the  class 
of  instincts  that  is  sometimes  called  individualistic.  It 
is  thus  akin  to  the  fighting  instinct,  and  readily  passes 
over  into  anger,  hate,  jealousy,  and  envy.  For  this 
reason  the  encouragement  of  rivalry  is  dangerous,  tend- 
ing as  it  does  to  cultivate  feelings  of  exultation  at  the 
degradation  of  others.  It  may  be  questioned,  how- 
ever, whether  man  would  ever  reach  as  high  a  degree 


58        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

of  efficiency  if  this  instinct  were  entirely  suppressed, 
and  whether  ambition  is  ever  entirely  divorced  from 
rivalry.  In  training  the  young,  therefore,  the  problem 
becomes  one  of  moderating  and  guiding  this  instinct, 
rather  than  one  of  complete  suppression.  In  the 
schools  group  competition,  for  example,  may  be  substi- 
tuted for  individual  competition,  and  the  child  may 
also  be  taught  to  try  to  outdo  his  own  former  accom- 
plishment. In  both  these  cases  the  instinctive  desire 
for  successful  accomplishment  is  appealed  to  with  less 
danger  of  arousing  feelings  against  others. 

Acquired  activities.  —  That  part  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem which  is  fixed  or  organized  from  the  beginning 
rather  than  plastic  (capable  of  being  molded)  is  de- 
voted to  the  production  of  these  unlearned  activities 
that  have  been  described.  These  are,  then,  the  forms 
of  behavior  that  may  be  counted  on  as  entering  into 
the  activities  of  all  individuals,  whatever  their  experi- 
ence has  been  or  may  be.  All  other  forms  of  fixed  or 
organized  behavior  are  learned  during  the  course  of 
the  individual's  own  experience  and  are  called  habits. 
One  of  the  most  important  facts  about  habits,  as  con- 
trasted with  the  kinds  of  behavior  that  we  have  de- 
scribed as  innate,  is  the  part  which  consciousness  plays 
in  their  formation.  Practically  all  forms  of  conscious- 
ness are  concerned  in  habit  formation,  and  it  therefore 
becomes  necessary  to  describe  these  in  detail.  While, 
then,  the  remainder  of  our  study  will  be  devoted  to  the 
study  of  consciousness,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that 


BEHAVIOR— NATIVE  AND  ACQUIRED  59 

this  study  has  no  relationship  to  behavior.  On  the 
contrary,  we  shall  be  investigating  the  various  ways 
in  which  consciousness  enters  into  the  process  of  habit 
formation,  as  well  as  into  other  forms  of  behavior. 
Before  passing  to  this  phase  of  our  work,  we  shall  con- 
sider some  of  the  features  that  apply  to  habit  in  gen- 
eral, whatever  forms  of  consciousness  are  concerned 
in  its  formation  and  operation. 

Similarity  between  habits  and  instincts.  —  It  is  a 
well-known  fact  that  fully  formed  habits  are  per- 
formed with  little  or  no  attention  to  their  performance, 
so  that  the  relation  of  consciousness  to  a  fully  formed 
habit  is  quite  as  negative  as  to  the  innate  activities 
that  have  been  described.  Habitual  activities  differ 
from  reflex  and  instinctive  activities  in  their  history 
rather  than  in  their  result.  The  physiological  proc- 
esses underlying  habit  are  similar  to  those  that  ex- 
plain the  instinctive  forms  of  behavior,  namely,  or- 
ganized sensori-motor  tracts  in  the  nervous  system. 
If  we  were  able  to  describe  the  changes  that  take  place 
in  these  tracts  while  the  habit  is  being  formed,  we 
should  have  a  complete  explanation  of  habit  as  far  as 
its  physiological  conditions  are  concerned. 

There  are  two  chief  ways  in  which  newly  organized 
sensori-motor  tracts  may  be  formed  in  the  central 
nervous  system:  (1)  by  the  growing  together  of  the 
branching  processes  of  the  neurones,  so  that  new  con- 
nections are  made;  (2)  by  a  reduction  in  the  resistance 
offered  by  the  synapses  which  form  the  points  of  con- 


60        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

nection  between  the  various  neurones  of  any  sensori- 
motor path.  There  is  evidence  that  the  synapse  is 
crossed  by  the  nervous  impulse  more  readily  the  more 
frequently  it  has  been  used.  The  more  readily  the  nerv- 
ous impulse  traverses  the  entire  sensori-motor  tract, 
the  better  organized  are  the  neurones  that  are  included 
in  that  tract,  and  the  more  immediately  and  without 
thought  the  resulting  action  follows. 

Repetition  and  attention  in  habit  formation.  — Any 
activity  that  is  frequently  repeated  soon  becomes  fixed 
in  accordance  with  the  principle  that  has  just  been 
described.  Now,  under  some  circumstances,  activities 
may  be  repeated  in  this  manner  without  paying  much 
attention  to  the  process,  and  thus  a  habit  is  developed 
without  much  consciousness  of  the  fact.  A  habit  may 
be  formed  much  more  readily,  however,  if  attention  is 
focused  on  the  activity  to  be  attained,  and  the  pres- 
ence of  attention  may  thus  become  to  some  extent  a 
substitute  for  frequency  of  repetition.  The  former  of 
these  two  methods  of  habit-formation  is  sometimes  re- 
ferred to  as  incidental  learning.  Some  habitual  ac- 
tions may  be  safely  left  to  take  care  of  themselves 
because  of  the  frequency  with  which  opportunities  pre- 
sent themselves  for  learning  them.  Others,  and 
especially  those  that  are  difficult  to  learn,  need  a  great 
deal  of  attention  during  the  course  of  their  develop- 
ment. In  learning  to  spell,  for  example,  words  that 
are  frequently  met  with,  and  that  also  follow  the  ordi- 
nary rules,  are  usually  learned  incidentally  with  read- 


BEHAVIOR— NATIVE  AND  ACQUIRED  61 

ing  and  with  little  conscious  effort.  On  the  other  hand, 
those  words  that  are  difficult  because  they  do  not 
follow  the  usual  phonetic  rules,  or  because  of  rare  oc- 
currence, require  that  extra  attention  be  given  them 
in  order  that  they  may  be  spelled  correctly. 

The  importance  of  the  two  factors  of  attention  and 
repetition  has  been  strongly  emphasized  in  the  two 
practical  maxims  which  James  gives  for  the  forming 
of  good  moral  habits  and  the  breaking  of  bad  ones: 

The  first  is  that  in  the  acquisition  of  a  new  habit  or 
the  leaving  off  of  an  old  one  we  must  take  care  to 
launch  ourselves  with  as  strong  and  decided  an  initia- 
tive as  possible.  .  .  . 

The  second  maxim  is:  Never  suffer  an  exception 
to  occur  till  the  new  habit  is  securely  rooted  in  your 
life. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages  of  habit.  —  Provided 
an  activity  is  one  that  will  be  frequently  required  to 
be  performed,  it  is  advantageous  to  make  it  habitual ; 
for  it  will  then  be  performed  with  greater  ease,  greater 
speed,  and  greater  precision.  Making  activities  habit- 
ual has  the  additional  advantage  of  freeing  conscious- 
ness so  that  it  may  be  used  in  connection  with  the 
acquiring  of  other  activities  wihich  have  not  yet  be- 
come habitual,  and  which  perhaps  because  of  their 
nature  should  never  become  habits.  For  example,  were 
it  not  for  the  fact  that  habits  have  been  formed  of 
making  writing  movements  we  should  be  unable  to 


62  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

concentrate  our  attention  on  the  meaning  of  the  words 
we  wish  to  express. 

While  habit  is  in  the  main  advantageous,  one  may 
become  the  slave  of  habit.  Slavery  to  habit  occurs 
when  one  is  unable  to  change  a  certain  form  of  be- 
havior when  there  is  good  reason  that  one  should  do 
so.  The  reason  for  changing  may  be  either  that  the 
habit  is  morally  bad  or  practically  inefficient,  or  that 
conditions  have  been  so  changed  as  to  make  change  in 
behavior  desirable.  Persons  who  are  not  able  to  change 
their  habits  of  thought  or  action  when  it  would  be 
advantageous  to  do  so  are  not  easily  adaptable  to  new 
situations,  and  cannot  readily  change  their  opinions 
even  though  the  evidence  may  require  it. 

In  view  of  the  tendency  which  everybody  has  to 
become  more  and  more  fixed  in  his  habits  as  he  becomes 
older,  it  becomes  the  more  necessary  that  habits  should 
be  formed,  when  young,  of  such  a  kind  as  to  be  useful 
throughout  life.  The  best  time  for  the  formation  of 
useful,  practical  habits  is  probably  the  period  from 
eight  to  twelve  years  in  the  child's  life.  This  is  the 
period  for  drill  in  all  the  processes  that  constitute  the 
tools  of  learning,  and  that  have  to  become  automatic 
to  be  useful,  such  as  reading,  writing,  and  the  funda- 
mental processes  of  arithmetic.  This  is  the  time,  too, 
for  inculcating  habits  of  correct  manners,  pronuncia- 
tion (of  one's  own  and  foreign  language),  as  well  as 
habits  involving  moral  qualities  like  cleanliness,  inde- 
pendence, accuracy,  honesty,  and  so  forth. 


BEHAVIOR— NATIVE  AND  ACQUIRED  63 

The  importance  of  forming  good  moral  and  intel- 
lectual habits  has  been  emphasized  by  James  in  his 
well-known  chapter  on  habit,  from  which  the  follow- 
ing striking  quotation  is  taken : 

Could  the  young  but  realize  how  soon  they  will  be- 
come mere  walking  bundles  of  habit,  they  would  give 
more  heed  to  their  conduct  while  in  the  plastic  state. 
We  are  spinning  our  own  fates,  good  or  evil,  and  never 
to  be  undone.  Every  smallest  stroke  of  virtue  or  vice 
leaves  its  never  so  little  scar.  The  drunken  Rip  Van 
Winkle  in  Jefferson's  play  excuses  himself  for  every 
fresh  dereliction  by  saying,  "I  won't  count  this  time." 
Well,  he  may  not  count  it  and  a  kind  Heaven  may  not 
count  it;  but  it  is  being  counted  none  the  less.  Down 
among  his  nerve  cells  and  fibers  the  molecules  are 
counting  it,  registering  and  storing  it  up  to  be  used 
against  him  when  the  next  temptation  comes.  Noth- 
ing we  ever  do  is,  in  strict  scientific  literalness,  wiped 
out.  Of  course  this  has  its  good  side  as  well  as  its  bad 
one.  As  we  become  permanent  drunkards  by  so  many 
separate  drinks,  so  we  become  saints  in  the  moral,  and 
authorities  and  experts  in  the  practical  and  scientific 
spheres,  by  so  many  separate  acts  and  hours  of  work. 
Let  no  youth  have  any  anxiety  about  the  upshot  of 
his  education,  whatever  the  line  of  it  may  be.  If  he 
keep  faithfully  busy  each  hour  of  the  working  day,  he 
may  safely  leave  the  final  result  to  itself.  He  can  with 
perfect  certainty  count  on  waking  up,  some  fine  morn- 
ing, to  find  himself  one  of  the  competent  ones  of  his 
generation,  in  whatever  pursuit  he  may  have  singled 
out. 


64  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

References 

Angell,  J.  R.    Psychology.    Chapters  III,  XV,  XVI. 

(Holt,  1908.) 
Colvin,  S.  S.    The  Learning  Process.    Chapters  III, 

IV.     (Macmillan,  1911.) 
James,  W.    Talks  to  Teachers.    Chapters  IV,  V,  VI, 

VII,  VIII.     (Holt,  1904.) 
Judd,  C.  H.    Psychology.    Chapter  IX.    (Ginn,  1917.) 
Thorndike,  E.  L.    Educational  Psychology.    Vol.  I. 

(Teachers  College,  1913.) 


CHAPTER  IV 

SENSATION 

Having  surveyed  the  equipment  with  which  man  is 
endowed  by  birth  for  bringing  about  movements,  and 
having  seen  in  a  general  way  how  other  activities  grow 
up  in  the  course  of  an  individual's  own  experience,  we 
shall  now  turn  to  a  description  of  the  detailed  manner 
in  which  these  new  activities  develop  and  their  con- 
nection with  the  various  kinds  of  conscious  processes. 
The  child  is  not  born  with  ready-made  activities  to  suit 
the  greater  number  of  objects  and  happenings  in  the 
world  around  him.  It  is  true  that  he  may  react,  as 
we  have  seen,  in  a  limited  number  of  ways  to  some 
of  these  objects  and  events.  He  responds,  for  exam- 
ple, in  a  perfectly  definite  way  and  with  a  perfectly 
definite  set  of  activities  to  objects  placed  between  his 
lips  (the  sucking  instinct).  Similarly,  after  a  few  days 
he  turns  his  head  in  the  direction  of  a  bright  light. 
But  activities  of  this  sort  are  relatively  few  in  number 
and  limited  in  their  application.  Accordingly,  the 
child's  immediate  task  is  to  learn  to  react  to  the  objects 
in  the  external  world  about  him,  or,  in  other  words, 
to  develop  a  whole  mass  of  habits  in  response  to 
these  objects.    These  habits  arise  in  connection  with 

65 


66  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

the  conscious  processes  known  as  perception  and  sen- 
sation. 

Objects  in  the  environment  act  as  stimuli  to  the  sense- 
organs;  that  is,  either  by  actual  physical  contact  (as 
in  touch  and  taste)  or  by  means  of  physical  vibra- 
tions (as  in  hearing  and  seeing),  they  produce  changes 
in  the  sense-organs,  and  these  in  turn  generate  nervous 
energy  in  the  nerves  with  which  they  are  connected. 
This  nervous  energy,  when  carried  to  the  appropriate 
sensory  area  in  the  cortex,  becomes  the  condition  for 
a  consciousness  of  the  qualities  of  these  objects.  The 
consciousness  of  the  qualities  of  objects  (including 
one's  own  body)  thus  brought  about  by  direct  stim- 
ulation of  the  sense-organs  is  called  sensation. 

In  the  early  life  of  the  child  the  objects  around  him 
must  be  continually  stimulating  his  sense-organs  and 
giving  rise  to  sensations.  These  sensations  at  first 
throng  into  consciousness  in  a  confused  mass,  and  only 
gradually  become  distinguished  from  one  another  and 
grouped  together  in  such  a  way  as  to  mean  certain  ob- 
jects. The  consciousness  of  objects  directly  stimulat- 
ing the  sense-organs  is  known  as  perception.  The 
process  of  perception  is,  of  course,  continued  through- 
out adult  life.  During  much  of  our  waking  life  we  are 
engaged  in  touching,  hearing,  seeing,  tasting,  smell- 
ing, etc.,  the  objects  about  us  and  shaping  our  activi- 
ties accordingly.  Nor  are  we  confined  to  the  objects 
of  our  immediate  environment,  but  through  the  senses 


SENSATION  67 

of  hearing  and  sight  we  become  conscious  of  objects 
far  distant. 

Sensations  and  perceptions  occur  together.  —  If  we 
consider  carefully  the  nature  of  any  process  of  percep- 
tion— for  example,  the  perception  of  the  book  at  which 
we  are  looking — we  will  observe  that  the  process  is  not 
simple,  but  that  it  can  be  analyzed  into  still  simpler 
processes.  The  book  has  certain  qualities,  especially 
those  of  color.  If  we  care  to  examine  the  book  by  the 
sense  of  touch,  we  find  that  it  has  also  touch  qualities. 
The  cover  may  be  rough,  the  edges  smooth.  The  per- 
ception of  the  book  is  bound  up  with  a  consciousness 
of  its  qualities.  Perception  and  sensation,  therefore, 
occur  together  and  are  different  phases  of  one  and  the 
same  process.  Since  sensation  is  the  more  elementary 
of  these  two  related  processes,  we  shall  consider  it 
first  and  deal  with  perception  in  the  next  chapter. 

Visual  sensations.  —  There  are  as  many  classes  of 
sensations  as  there  are  kinds  of  sense-organs,  and  all 
of  these  will  be  briefly  touched  upon,  beginning  with 
visual  sensations,  since  these  make  up  so  large  a  part 
of  human  adult  perception.  As  has  been  seen,  the  stim- 
ulation of  the  sense-organs  constitutes  an  essential 
condition  of  sensation.  It  will  therefore  be  necessary 
for  us  to  take  into  consideration  the  nature  of  the  vari- 
ous sense-organs  and  the  way  they  function.  In  order 
to  make  the  description  complete,  the  various  sources 
of  stimulation  of  the  sense-organs  must  also  be  consid- 
ered.   The  latter  constitute  the  physical  conditions  of 


68 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


sensations;  the  former,  together  with  the  changes  in 
the  nervous  system,  the  physiological  conditions. 

The  eye  (Fig.  13)  is  similar  to  a  photographic  camera 
in  its  construction  and  in  the  way  it  does  its  work. 
The  pupil,  which  is  an  opening  in  the  iris  (the  colored 


Fig.  13.  Diagrammatic  section  of  the  human  eye.  0,  optic  nerve; 
S,  sclerotic;  C,  cornea;  A,  choroid  coat;  /,  iris;  R.  retina;  V,  vitre- 
ous humor;  H,  aqueous  humor;  L,  crystalline  lens;  X,  optic  center 
of  the  lens;  b,  blind  spot;  /,  fovea  centralis;  p,  pupil;  M,  ciliary 
muscles,  which  control  the  curvature  of  the  lens;  Ob,  object  outside 
of  eye;  Im,  image  on  the  retina.  (From  Judd,  after  Wundt  by  per- 
mission of  Ginn  and  Co.) 


part  of  the  eye),  admits  the  rays  of  light.  The  expan- 
sion of  the  pupil  in  dull  light  and  its  contraction  in 
bright  light  is  analogous  to  the  working  of  the  dia- 
phragm of  the  camera.  In  front  of  the  pupil  is  the 
cornea,  a  transparent  covering  shaped  like  a  watch- 
crystal.  Just  back  of  the  pupil  is  the  lens  of  the  eye, 
which  refracts  the  rays  of  light  and  brings  them  to  a 
focus  on  the  retina.    Between  the  lens  and  the  retina 


SENSATION 


69 


is  a  mass  of  transparent  jelly-like  substance  (the  vitre- 
ous humor)  which,  with  the  aqueous  humor  in  front 
of  the  lens,  fills  out  the  eye  and  gives  it  its  shape. 

The  retina.  —  The  retina  is  a  thin  film  at  the  back 
of  the  eye.  Although  it  is  but  one-hundredth  of  an 
inch  thick,  the  microscope  shows  that  it  is  extremely 


Fig.  14.    Diagrammatic  section  of  the  retina. 
Greef,  by  permission  of  Ginn  and  Company.) 


(From  Judd,  after 


complex.  Fig.  14  shows  the  various  layers  of  cells 
and  fibers  of  which  it  is  comprised.  The  layer  marked 
X  lies  directly  back  of  the  vitreous  humor.  It  consists 
of  nerve  fibers  that  are  directly  continuous  with  the 
optic  nerve,  the  fibers  of  which  in  turn  pass  to  the  base 
of  the  brain  and  conduct  the  impulses  to  the  visual 
area  in  the  occipital  region  of  the  cerebral  cortex. 
The  layer  of  cells  marked  II  is  the  so-called  rod-and- 


70        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

cone  layer,  which  is  connected  with  the  fibers  of  layer 
No.  X  by  a  series  of  layers  composed  of  interconnected 
cells  (marked  IX  to  III).  It  is  this  layer  of  rods  and 
cones  that  is  the  true  visual  sense-organ,  since  it  is 
here  that  the  nervous  excitation  is  set  up  which,  when 
carried  to  the  brain,  is  accompanied  by  the  visual  sen- 
sation. When  the  rays  of  light  (ether  waves)  are 
brought  to  a  focus  on  the  retina,  they  set  up  changes 
in  these  rods  and  cones,  and  the  nervous  impulses  re- 
sult. These  impulses  are  carried  to  the  brain  by  the 
path  already  described. 

The  retina  is  not  equally  sensitive  at  all  points  to 
the  rays  of  light.  There  is  a  small  depression,  known 
as  the  fovea,  in  the  retina  almost  directly  back  of  the 
lens.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  the  eye  is  turned 
so  as  to  bring  the  image  of  the  object  on  this  part  of  the 
retina,  which  is  very  rich  in  the  number  of  highly  de- 
veloped cones,  the  rods  being  absent  at  this  point. 
Outside  this  central  point  in  the  retina  the  number  of 
cones  decreases  and  the  number  of  rods  increases,  until 
at  the  extreme  edges  of  the  retina  the  cones  have  prac- 
tically disappeared  and  rods  only  remain.  At  one  point 
on  the  side  of  the  retina  toward  the  nose,  where  the 
optic  nerve  enters  the  eye,  neither  rods  nor  cones  are 
present.  This  point  is  known  as  the  blind  spot.  An 
experiment  proving  that  we  are  not  able  to  see  when 
the  image  strikes  this  part  of  the  retina  will  be  de- 
scribed later. 

Muscular  adjustments  of  the  eye.  —  Just  as  the 


SENSATION  71 

camera  needs  to  be  adjusted  or  focused  according  to 
the  distance  of  the  object  to  be  photographed,  so  the 
eye  automatically  adjusts  itself  so  as  to  make  a  clear 
image  of  the  object  looked  at  on  the  retina.  The  ad- 
justment in  the  eye  is  a  muscular  one  by  means  of 
which  the  front  surface  of  the  lens  is  made  flatter  for 
distant  objects  and  rounder  for  near  objects.  This  ad- 
justment of  the  lens  is  known  as  accommodation.  In 
cases  of  near-sightedness  and  far-sightedness  the  eyes 
are  unable  to  make  this  adjustment  successfully,  and 
artificial  lenses  have  to  be  used  to  assist  the  eye  in  the 
process  of  accommodation. 

Another  muscular  adjustment  in  connection  with 
vision  is  that  of  convergence,  by  means  of  which  the 
two  eyes  are-  moved  inward  and  outward  so  as  to  bring 
an  image  of  the  objects  upon  the  fovea  of  each  retina. 
Both  accommodation  and  convergence  give  rise  to 
muscular  sensations  that  become  a  part  of  the  total 
consciousness  when  looking  at  objects. 

Visual  sensations  and  their  stimuli.  —  There  are,  in 
general,  two  classes  of  visual  sensations,  namely,  col- 
ored and  colorless.  The  sensations  of  color  consist  of 
red,  orange,  yellow,  green,  blue,  purple,  and  violet,  both 
singly  and  in  combination,  and  all  their  shades,  tints, 
and  degrees  of  purity.  The  colorless  sensations  con- 
sist of  the  series  that  begins  with  pure  white  and  ends 
with  black,  innumerable  shades  of  gray  intervening. 
The  members  of  this  series  differ  from  one  another 
only  in  brightness. 


72  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

The  physical  stimuli  for  visual  sensations  are  ether 
vibrations.  The  eye  is,  however,  sensitive  only  to  those 
vibrations  whose  rates  vary  from  four  hundred  and 
thirty-five  trillions  to  seven  hundred  and  sixty-nine 
trillions  per  second.  Colorless  sensations  result  from 
the  mixture  of  waves  of  various  frequency.  Red  is  the 
result  of  waves  of  four  hundred  and  thirty-five  tril- 
lions per  second ;  violet  of  waves  of  seven  hundred  and 
sixty-nine  trillions  per  second ;  while  the  vibration  rates 
of  the  other  colors  range  between  these  two  extremes. 

The  color  series. —  Certain  relationships  exist  among 
the  colors  that  enable  us  to  arrange  them  in  their  spec- 
tral order — red,  orange,  yellow,  green,  blue,  violet. 
This  is  the  natural  order  in  which  to  arrange  colors 
when  we  are  considering  them  from  the  physical  point 
of  view,  red  being  the  result  of  the  slowest  ether  waves, 
and  violet  of  the  fastest,  and  the  rates  of  vibrations  of 
the  other  colors  ranging  between  them  in  the  order 
named. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact,  from  a  psychological  point  of 
view,  that  the  relations  between  colors  as  sensations 
can  better  be  expressed  in  a  different  manner  from 
this  straight-line  series  of  the  spectrum.  If  the  colors 
are  arranged  in  a  circular  fashion,  as  in  Fig.  15,  and 
purple  included  among  their  number,  the  arrangement 
will  express  very  well  many  of  the  psychological  re- 
lations between  them.  In  this  order  of  arrangement 
violet,  instead  of  being  farthest  from  red  as  in  the 
spectral  series,  is  brought  close  to  it,  and  between  them 


SENSATION 


73 


is  the  transition  color  purple,  bearing  a  relation  to 
red  and  violet  similar  to  that  which  orange  bears  to 
red  and  yellow. 

Complementary  colors.  —  Again,  it  will  be  noticed 
that  in  the  circular  order  of  the  colors  it  is  a  bluish- 
green  that  is  placed  at  opposite  ends  of  the  diameter 
from  red,  expressing  the  fact  that  blue-green  is  to  be 

"Pwrjale 


Violet 


Blue 


Greenish 
Blue. 


Orange 


Yellow 


Green 


UluishGreeni 

Fig.  15.    Circular  arrangement  of  colors  representing  complemen- 
tary colors  at  opposite  ends  of  diameters. 

regarded  as  the  color  that  is  psychologically  farthest 
away  from  red.  The  reason  for  this  arrangement  is 
that,  from  some  points  of  view,  red  and  blue-green  are 
antagonistic  colors.  This  may  be  seen  from  the  phe- 
nomenon of  color  mixture.  If  these  two  colors  be  pre- 
sented to  the  eye  so  rapidly  that  they  stimulate  the 
fovea  at  practically  the  same  time,  the  retina  cannot 
respond  to  both  of  them  separately,  and  the  two  proc- 
esses neutralize  each  other,  the  result  being  a  sensa- 
tion of  gray.    A  simple  method  of  mixing  colors  in  this 


74        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

way  is  to  take  two  or  more  overlapping  disks  of  dif- 
ferent colors  and  rotate  them  by  means  of  an  electric 
motor.  Two  colors  that  when  thus  mixed  produce  a 
sensation  of  gray  are  called  complementary  colors.  If 
a  color  is  mixed  with  any  color  that  stands  nearer  to 
it  in  the  color  circle  than  its  complementary,  the  result 
is  an  intervening  color.  Thus  red  mixed  with  green 
produces  yellow,  and  red  mixed  with  blue  produces 
purple. 

Sensations  not  direct  reflections  of  external 
events.  —  A  question  that  naturally  arises  at  this  point 
is,  Why  should  our  sensations  of  color  be  so  differently 
related  to  one  another  from  the  way  in  Which  colors  as 
physical  facts  are  related?  We  can  explain  the  dif- 
ference, at  least  in  part,  by  remembering  that  the  im- 
mediate condition  for  these  visual  sensations  is  not 
the  physical  vibrations  of  the  ether,  which  make  up 
the  spectral  series,  but  the  effects  these  vibrations 
produce  on  the  retina.  Between  the  physical  and  the 
psychical  realm  stands  the  physiological. 

Color-blindness.  —  The  indirect  character  of  the  re- 
lationship between  the  physical  and  the  conscious  may 
be  further  emphasized  by  referring  to  the  facts  of 
color-blindness.  All  parts  of  the  eye  are  not  equally 
sensitive  to  color.  If  one  eye  is  closed  and  the  open 
eye  looks  at  a  fixed  point,  the  image  of  this  point  falls 
on  the  fovea,  or  point  of  clearest  vision.  Now,  if  the 
eye  is  kept  steadily  fixated  on  the  point  and  a  colored 
object  is  brought  in  at  the  side,  the  part  of  the  retina 


SENSATION  75 

stimulated  is  somewhere  to  the  side  of  the  fovea.  Ex- 
perimenting in  this  way  shows  that  the  retina  may 
be  divided  into  three  parts,  according  to  sensitivity  to 
color.  The  first  of  these  includes  the  fovea  itself  and 
an  area  around  it  where  all  colors  are  normally  seen  in 
their  true  color  qualities.  Farther  from  the  fovea  is 
another  area  where  yellow  and  blue  are  seen  in  their 
true  color  qualities  and  red  and  green  are  not.  Still 
farther  out  toward  the  edge  of  the  retina  is  an  area 
where  the  shapes  of  colored  objects  are  seen  but  al- 
ways appear  to  be  gray.  Even  the  normal  eye  is  thus 
color-blind  outside  of  the  foveal  region  of  the  retina. 
The  fovea  is,  then,  the  most  developed  portion  of 
the  retina  for  discrimination  of  color,  and  the  edges 
the  least  developed,  while  the  intermediate  region  is  a 
region  of  intermediate  development. 

It  would  appear  that  gray  is  a  more  primitive  visual 
sensation  than  any  of  the  colors,  and  that  yellow  and 
blue  are  more  primitive  than  red  and  green.  This  view 
is  also  supported  by  the  fact  that  color-blind  persons 
(that  is,  persons  who  are  color-blind  even  in  the  fovea) 
are  most  frequently  lacking  in  sensitivity  to  red  and 
green,  which  are  seen  by  them  as  either  gray  or  some 
shade  of  yellow.  It  is  rare  that  color-blind  persons  are 
insensitive  to  yellow  and  blue,  and  still  more  rare  that 
all  colors  are  seen  as  gray,  although  cases  of  both  these 
kinds  are  found. 

After-images. — When  one  looks  at  an  object  and 
then  turns  away  from  it,  the  effect  on  the  retina  re- 


76        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

mains  for  a  short  time  in  the  form  of  an  after-sensa- 
tion. Take  a  piece  of  colored  paper,  for  example,  and 
place  it  on  a  white  background;  then  gaze  at  it  for  a 
moment  or  two.  Now  shift  the  gaze  to  another  part 
of  the  paper.  A  patch  of  color  of  the  same  shape  and 
size  as  the  original  colored  paper  will  appear.  The 
color  of  this  patch  will,  however,  be  found  to  be  the 
complementary  of  the  original  color,  and  the  back- 
ground immediately  surrounding  it  will  be  dark  gray 
instead  of  the  original  white  background.  These  after- 
sensations  are  called  negative  because  of  the  reversal 
of  the  color  and  of  the  light  and  shade. 

Under  certain  circumstances,  before  the  negative 
after-image  sets  in,  a  positive  after-image  is  seen  for 
a  short  time,  which  is  of  the  same  color  as  the  original. 
On  turning  out  a  gas-flame  suddenly,  for  example, 
the  yellow  flame  may  still  be  seen  for  an  instant  after- 
ward, changing  its  position  with  the  direction  in  which 
one  looks.  A  moment  later  it  is  replaced  by  the  nega- 
tive after-image. 

All  of  the  above  facts  show  that  visual  sensations  are 
indirect  and  cannot  be  explained,  except  as  the  re- 
sult of  the  physical  stimuli  producing  certain  physi- 
ological processes.  The  physical  series  differs  from  the 
psychical,  and  the  latter  are  to  be  understood  only  by 
the  interposition  of  the  physiological  series.  This  is 
universally  true  of  all  sensations,  though  not  so  strik- 
ingly marked  in  the  other  senses  as  in  vision. 

Recognition  of  color  in  children.  —  Children  will 


SENSATION  77 

show  a  preference  for  colored  objects  over  white  and 
black  as  soon  as  they  are  able  to  grasp  objects  (at  about 
six  or  seven  months  of  age),  and  there  is,  therefore,  a 
strong  probability  that  ability  to  discriminate  colors 
is  present  at  that  early  age.  It  is  at  least  certain  that 
children,  as  soon  as  they  are  able  to  understand  the 
instructions,  can  select  colors  like  a  given  sample  from 
a  large  number  of  other  colors.  Tests  made  in  this  way 
show  that  some  children  recognize  red,  orange,  yellow, 
blue,  violet,  and  purple  early  in  the  third  year  of  life. 

Ability  to  name  colors  with  exactness,  however, 
comes  much  later  in  development.  Investigations 
made  of  children  who  are  just  beginning  school  have 
shown  that  about  30  per  cent  of  the  boys  and  28  per 
cent  of  the  girls  could  not  name  the  four  colors  red, 
yellow,  green,  and  blue  correctly.  Ability  to  note  slight 
differences  in  saturation  x  increases  rapidly  during  the 
school  period,  so  that  in  this  respect  a  fourteen-year- 
old  child  is  two  or  three  times  as  sensitive  as  a  six-year- 
old  child. 

Whether  the  improvement  that  takes  place  in  abil- 
ity to  recognize  colors  and  differences  in  saturation 
during  the  school  period  is  due  to  any  development  in 
the  retina  may  well  be  doubted.  Since  color-blindness, 
which  is  probably  due  in  most  cases  to  lack  of  retinal 
development,  cannot  be  overcome  by  practice,  the  im- 

1  A  color  is  said  to  be  more  saturated  the  purer  it  is.  Lack  of 
purity  is  due  to  an  admixture  of  gray.  A  fully  saturated  blue  would 
be  one  that  contains  as  much  blue  as  is  possible.  The  best  examples 
of  fully  saturated  colors  are  those  of  the  spectrum. 


78  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

provement  is  probably  due  to  increased  attention 
rather  than  to  improved  color  sense;  but  the  fact  re- 
mains that  the  naming  and  recognizing  of  colors  may 
be  much  refined  by  practice.  The  same  point  is  illus- 
trated by  the  superiority  of  women  over  men  and  of 
girls  over  boys  in  recognizing  and  naming  colors,  due 
to  their  greater  interest  and  practice.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  that  children  begin  by  preferring  red  to  blue, 
but  develop  in  the  direction  of  preferring  blue  to  red. 

Auditory  stimuli.  —  The  usual  source  of  sound  in 
the  physical  world  is  vibrations  of  the  air.  These  vi- 
brations may  be  periodic,  that  is,  occurring  in  regular 
succession,  or  they  may  be  non-periodic,  or  irregular. 
In  the  former  case  they  give  rise  to  tone  sensations, 
in  the  latter  to  noises.  The  more  rapid  are  the  vibra- 
tions giving  rise  to  tone,  the  higher  is  the  tone;  the 
less  rapid  the  vibrations,  the  lower  is  the  tone.  The 
greater  the  amplitude  of  the  vibrations,  the  louder  or 
more  intense  is  the  tone.  The  complexity  of  vibra- 
tions corresponds  to  the  timbre  of  tones. 

The  ear.  —  The  ear  (Fig.  16)  is  composed  of  three 
parts,  external,  middle,  and  inner  ears.  The  external 
ear-passage  is  separated  from  the  middle  ear  by  a 
membrane  known  as  the  tympanic  or  drum  membrane. 
This  membrane  is  attached  on  the  inside  to  three  small 
bones  that  stretch  across  the  middle  ear  to  the  wall 
of  the  inner  ear,  where  one  of  them,  the  stapes,  fits 
into  an  opening  in  the  wall  of  the  inner  ear.  The  inner 
ear  consists  of  a  series  of  winding  passages  so  complex 


SENSATION  79 

as  to  have  been  given  the  name  of  the  labyrinth. 
These  passages  of  the  labyrinth  are  filled  with  a  liquid, 
which  is  set  into  vibration  by  the  movements  of  the 
stapes,  which  has  in  turn  been  set  in  vibration  by  the 


ET 


Fig.  16.  Structure  of  the  ear,  showing  P,  the  pinna  or  external  flap 
of  the  ear;  EM,  external  meatus  or  passage  leading  to  T,  the  tym- 
panum or  membrane  which  separates  the  external  from  the  middle 
ear  (/) ;  stretching  across  the  middle  ear  is  the  chain  of  ossicles; 
ET,  the  Eustachian  tube  leading  to  the  throat;  SC,  the  semi-circular 
canals;  C,  the  cochlea;  AN,  the  auditory  nerve.  (From  Judd,  after 
Czermak,  by  permission  of  Ginn  and  Company.) 

other  bones  and  the  tympanic  membrane.  One  part 
of  the  labyrinth  is  a  series  of  winding  turns  called,  from 
the  shape,  the  cochlea  (snail-shell).  Stretching  across 
the  passages  in  the  cochlea  is  the  basilar  membrane 
(Fig.  17),  which,  with  the  structures  resting  upon  it, 
is  the  true  sense-organ  of  hearing,  as  the  retina  is  the 
true  sense-organ  of  sight. 


80 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


The  basilar  membrane,  if  stretched  out  flat,  would 
look  somewhat  like  the  sounding-board  of  a  piano. 
Indeed,  while  it  is  a  continuous  membrane  in  charac- 
ter, it  has  running  through  it  fibers  that  are  somewhat 
analogous  to  the  strings  of  a  piano.  These  fibers  dif- 
fer in  length,  and  it  is  believed  that  tones  of  the  higher 
pitch  set  into  vibration  the  shorter  fibers,  and  tones 


Fibres    of  Audtfory  Jtfen/e 

Fig.  17.    Diagrammatic  representation  of  the  basilar  membrane  and 
organ  of  Corti.     (After  Sickley.) 

of  the  lower  pitch  the  longer  fibers.  The  vibrations, 
thus  taken  up  from  the  liquid  of  the  middle  ear  by  the 
basilar  membrane,  become  converted  into  a  nervous 
excitation  which  is  carried  to  the  brain  by  the  auditory 
nerve. 

Auditory  fusions.  —  The  eye  and  the  ear  differ  de- 
cidedly in  the  way  they  are  affected  by  combinations 
of  their  respective  stimuli.  It  was  noted,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  discussion  of  color  mixture,  that  the  eye 
is  unable  to  distinguish  between  two  or  more  colors 
that  strike  it  at  the  same  time,  but  effects  a  com- 
promise between  them.  Sensations  of  sound  that 
occur  simultaneously  do  not  so  completely  fuse  as  do 


SENSATION  81 

colors,  although  the  sound  Waves  themselves  reach  the 
ear  as  a  single  complex  wave.  The  ear  has  the  capacity 
of  analyzing  out  the  elementary  sounds  of  which  a  total 
complex  sound  is  composed.  It  is  probable  that  each 
fiber  of  the  basilar  membrane  responds  only  to  that 
part  of  the  complex  wave  whose  vibration  rate  is  the 
same  as  its  own,  and  that  thus  a  separate  nervous  im- 
pulse arises  for  each  part  of  a  complex  sound  wave. 

The  human  ear  is  sensitive  to  only  a  certain  range 
of  air  vibrations,  namely,  from  about  16  per  second 
to  about  50,000  per  second.  Above  and  below  these 
limits  no  auditory  sensation  is  received.  Tone-deaf- 
ness, a  condition  analogous  to  color-blindness,  in  which 
individuals  are  unable  to  hear  tones  of  a  certain  regis- 
ter, sometimes  occurs. 

Hearing  in  children.  —  Reactions  to  auditory  stimu- 
lation by  turning  the  head  begin  to  take  place  in  the 
first  few:  weeks  of  life ;  but  these  are  probably  instinc- 
tive actions  implying  no  real  recognition  of  the  sounds. 
In  some  children  appreciation  of  music  is  shown  in  the 
first  year.  About  the  middle  of  the  second  year  there 
are  the  first  attempts  at  singing,  and  probably  the 
majority  of  children  distinguish  the  tones  of  simple 
melodies  in  the  fourth  year  of  life.  However,  one 
investigator  found  that  only  about  20  per  cent  of 
children  beginning  school  can  sing  a  song  by  heart, 
and  only  about  36  per  cent  can  imitate  a  simple 
melody.  Great  individual  differences  exist  between 
children  in  their  ability  to  sing,  corresponding  to  the 


82  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

great  differences  in   this  respect  present  in   adult9. 

It  is  quite  as  important  for  the  work  of  the  school- 
room that  the  child  should  be  able  to  hear  distinctly 
as  to  see  clearly.  Tests  that  are  approximately  exact 
may  be  made  by  determining  the  distance  at  which  the 
tick  of  a  watch  or  a  series  of  whispered  words  is  heard. 
Tests  were  made  in  this  way  on  school  children  of 
Liverpool,  England.  The  children  were  first  divided 
into  three  classes,  bright,  average,  and  dull,  according 
to  their  ability  in  school  work.  It  was  found  that  the 
average  number  of  inches  a  watch  must  be  held  from 
the  ear  so  as  to  be  audible  was  fifty-one  inches  for  the 
bright  pupils,  47.3  inches  for  the  average,  and  31.25 
inches  for  the  dull.  Serious  cases  of  defective  hearing 
often  exist  without  the  teacher,  and  in  some  cases  with- 
out the  pupil  himself,  knowing  anything  about  it. 

Static  sense.  —  The  cochlea  is  the  only  part  of  the 
inner  ear  that  is  directly  connected  with  the  sense  of 
hearing.  The  rest  of  the  labyrinth,  consisting  of  the 
semicircular  canals  and  the  vestibule  (Fig.  17),  are 
sense-organs  of  equilibrium.  When  the  head  is  moved 
the  liquid  in  the  semicircular  canals  and  the  vestibule 
is  set  in  motion,  and  this  motion  is  communicated  to 
small  hair-cells,  which  in  turn  set  up  nervous  impulses 
that  are  carried  to  the  brain  and  result  in  muscular 
reactions  that  keep  the  body  in  an  erect  position.  These 
impulses  do  not  come  to  consciousness  except  when 
they  are  very  intense,  as  in  dizziness. 

Smell  and  taste.  —  Smell  and  taste  sensations  are 


SENSATION  83 

usually  experienced  in  combination  with  each  other, 
and  especially  is  it  true  that  sensations  of  smell  usu- 
ally accompany  what  seem  to  be  taste.  Properly  speak- 
ing, there  are  but  four  fundamental  taste  qualities,  viz., 
salt,  sour,  bitter,  sweet.  All  other  so-called  tastes  are 
compounds  of  these  primary  tastes  together  with  smell 
sensations.  Food  owes  most  of  its  flavor  to  smell  sen- 
sations, as  can  readily  be  seen  by  holding  the  nostrils 
or  when  the  sense  of  smell  is  impaired  because  of  a 
cold.  Touch  and  temperature  sensations  also  blend 
with  taste  sensations,  and  form  a  very  essential  part 
of  what  are  usually  called  tastes.  Some  parts  of  the 
tongue  are  more  sensitive  to  certain  tastes  than  others. 
Thus  the  base  of  the  tongue  is  more  sensitive  to  bit- 
ter, the  sides  of  the  tongue  to  sour,  and  the  tip  to  salt 
and  sweet. 

Smell  and  taste  are  relatively  unimportant  senses 
from  the  standpoint  of  education,  but  it  is  interesting 
to  find  that  keenness  of  discrimination  of  these  rela- 
tively lower  senses  is  capable  of  a  high  degree  of  re- 
finement. Ability  to  distinguish  slight  differences  of 
odors  and  tastes  may  be  pushed  to  a  high  degree  of 
refinement  by  practice.  Thus  James  vouches  for  the 
story  that  a  woman  who  had  lost  her  sight  was  able 
to  sort  linen  in  a  laundry  by  the  sense  of  smell,  and  it 
is  a  well-known  fact  that  tea-tasters  and  connoisseurs 
of  wines  develop  an  astonishing  capacity  for  observ- 
ing slight  differences  in  taste  sensations.  While  in 
special  cases  a  high  degree  of  refinement  in  discriminat- 


84  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

ing  taste  and  smell  sensations  may  be  important,  for 
the  majority  of  persons  such  development  is  of  little 
or  no  value. 

Skin  sensations.  —  There  are  four  kinds  of  sensation 
that  result  from  the  stimulation  of  the  surface  of  the 
skin.  These  are  touch  (pressure),  pain,  cold,  and 
warmth.  While  we  frequently  get  these  sensations  in 
combination,  as  we  do  those  of  taste  and  smell,  yet 
they  are  in  truth  separate  classes  of  sensations  and 
have  separate  end  organs.  The  latter  point  may  be  ex- 
perimentally decided  in  the  following  way:  Choose 
a  certain  limited  area  of  the  skin  and  mark  it  off  by 
means  of  a  rubber  stamp  into  small  areas  of  1  milli- 
meter square.  Now,  if  each  of  these  small  areas  be 
touched  with  a  cold,  bluntly  pointed  instrument,  it  will 
be  found  that  at  certain  points  the  sensation  of  cold 
flashes  up,  while  at  others  it  does  not.  These  so-called 
cold  spots  may  be  marked,  and  it  will  be  found  that 
they  remain  permanent  from  day  to  day.  In  a  similar 
manner,  by  warming  a  blunt  metal  point,  explorations 
may  be  made  for  warm  spots,  and  it  will  be  found  that 
they  are  more  numerous  than  the  cold  spots  and  not 
identical  with  them.  So  in  like  manner  touch  spots 
may. be  identified,  and  also  pain  spots. 

Muscular  sensations.  —  Besides  the  separate  sense 
of  pain,  cold,  and  warmth,  there  must  be  added  sensa- 
tions connected  with  movements  of  the  muscles.  Some 
of  these  are  brought  about  by  the  stimulation  of  sen- 
sory  nerves   in   the  muscles    (muscular  sensations), 


SENSATION  85 

others  by  the  stimulation  of  nerves  in  the  joints  (joint 
sensations),  and  still  others  are  connected  with  the 
tendons  (tendon  sensations). 

The  sense  of  touch  (including  muscular  sensations) 
must  share  with  those  of  sight  and  hearing  the  honor 
of  playing  the  principal  role  in  building  up  our  knowl- 
edge of  our  own  bodies  and  the  external  world.  The 
degree  of  refinement  possible  in  this  sense  is  seen  in 
the  blind,  who  are  very  largely  dependent  upon  it. 

Sensations  are  first  things  in  consciousness,  and  con- 
stitute the  raw  stuff  from  which  knowledge  of  the  ex- 
ternal world  and  our  own  bodies  is  built  up.  A  rich 
and  varied  stock  of  such  experiences  is  necessary  in 
order  that  one  may  comprehend  the  world  aright  and 
in  its  fullness.  Furthermore,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  these  sensations  are  concerned  in  the  guiding  of 
activities.  The  further  discussions  of  these  points 
will  be  deferred  till  the  end  of  the  chapter  on  percep- 
tion, since,  as  has  already  been  shown,  the  processes 
of  perception  and  sensation  actually  occur  together 
and  are  not  really  separate  processes. 

References 

Angell,J.  R.  Psychology.  Chapter  V.  (Holt,  1908.) 
Judd,  C.  H.  Psychology.  Chapter  V.  (Ginn,  1917.) 
Pillsbury,  W.  B.  Essentials  of  Psychology.  Chap- 
ter IV.  (Macmillan,  1911.) 
Stout,  G.  F.  Manual  of  Psychology.  Chapter  IV. 
(University  Tutorial  Press,  1915.) 


CHAPTER  V 
PERCEPTION 

Relation  between  sensation  and  perception.  —  Per- 
ception has  already  been  denned  as  the  consciousness 
of  objects  which  are  directly  stimulating  the  sense- 
organs.  Sensations  are  continually  thronging  into  con- 
sciousness; but  they  do  not  come,  at  least  in  adult 
consciousness,  unrelated  to  each  other.  Certain  sen- 
sations belong  with  certain  others  and  go  to  make  up 
our  perception  of  a  definite  object.  Thus  the  visual 
sensations  (of  color)  coming  from  an  inkstand  at  which 
we  may  be  looking  all  combine  and  make  up  the  per- 
cept of  the  inkstand.  These  particular  sensations  are 
grouped  together,  and  other  sensations  received  at 
the  same  time,  such  as  those  from  the  desk  on  which 
the  inkstand  lies,  do  not  belong  in  the  same  group. 
So  closely  knit  are  sensations  in  a  percept  that  the  term 
"fusion"  has  sometimes  been  used  to  describe  the  com- 
plete union  that  exists  between  them.  The  sensations 
are  bound  together  into  a  perceptual  unity  or  oneness. 

Sensations  never  stand  alone.  They  never  come  to 
us  as  isolated  factors  of  experience.  The  color  red  is 
always  the  color  of  some  object;  that  is  to  say,  it  is 
always  related  to  other  sensations.    Indeed,  the  sensa- 

86 


PERCEPTION 


87 


tions  exist  only  as  a  part  of  perceptions,  and  it  is  not 
possible  actually  to  separate  the  sensation  from  the 
percept  of  which  it  is  a  part.  It  is  only  through  their 
combination  with  other  sensations  that  sensations  have 
any  meaning  whatever,  so  that  from  this  point  of  view 
perception  may  be  regarded  as  the  process  in  which 
sensations  are  given  a  meaning.     The  materials  of 


'< 


> 


^ 


< 


Fig.  18.    The  Muller-Lyer  illusion.    The  two  upper  lines  are  equal 
and  look  equal.     The  two  lower  lines  are  equal  but  look  unequal. 


which  the  percept  is  composed  consist  of  sensations, 
but  its  meaning  is  dependent  on  the  way  in  which  these 
sensations  are  arranged  in  consciousness.  The  inter- 
pretation is  quite  as  much  due  to  the  way  in  which  the 
sensations  are  related  to  one  another  as  to  their  mere 
presence. 

An  illusion  as  an  example.  —  Thus  two  horizontal 
lines  that  are  of  the  same  length  such  as  those  of  the 
upper  part  of  Fig.  18  are  given  the  same  meaning,  ex- 
cept that  they  occupy  different  positions.    But  if  there 


88  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

are  added  to  the  horizontal  lines  oblique  lines  which 
are  slightly  different  in  the  case  of  the  two  lines,  as  in 
the  lower  part  of  the  figure,  they  have  no  longer  the 
same  meaning.  The  line  at  the  right  is  interpreted 
as  being  longer  than  the  line  at  the  left.  Notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  the  retinal  images  are  of  the 
same  length,  they  are  interpreted  differently  because 
of  their  different  settings. 

When  it  happens,  as  in  the  above  illustration,  that 
the  meaning  of  a  perceptual  experience  is  false,  the 
perception  is  called  an  illusion.  All  illusions  are  splen- 
did examples  of  the  principle  we  are  discussing,  viz., 
that  the  interpretation  of  a  perceptual  experience  de- 
pends not  merely  on  the  sensation-qualities  but  also 
upon  the  way  in  which  they  are  related  to  one  another. 
The  person  who  shoots  at  a  stump  thinking  it  a 
partridge  may  have  the  same  sensations  as  when  he 
later  discovers  his  mistake;  but  they  get  a  different 
meaning  because  of  their  new  setting. 

The  relating  process  present  in  all  perception.  — 
What  is  true  of  illusions  is  quite  as  true,  though  per- 
haps less  strikingly,  of  all  perception.  The  sensation 
gets  its  meaning  from  the  connection  it  has  with  other 
sensations.  The  sensation  of  coldness  may  mean  ice 
or  ether  or  ice-cream,  according  as  it  is  associated  with 
thic  or  that  other  sensation  or  group  of  sensations. 
A  certain  group  of  sensations  of  green,  when  asso- 
ciated with  certain  others  of  wlhite  and  gold,  mean 


PERCEPTION  89 

a  book;  but  the  same  sensations  may  mean  a  lady's 
hat  or  the  leaf  of  a  tree  in  other  connections. 

Meaning  also  dependent  on  past  experience.  —  The 
meaning  that  is  given  to  a  sensation  in  the  perceptual 
process  depends  not  only  upon  the  other  sensations 
that  are  immediately  present,  but  also  in  part  upon 
past  experience.  Our  present  experience  of  any  ob- 
ject at  which  we  look  is  dependent  on  our  former  ex- 
perience with  the  same  and  similar  objects.  Most 
of  our  adult  perceptions  are  immediately  dependent 
only  on  visual  sensations;  but  indirectly  they  are  de- 
pendent very  much  on  former  sensations  of  other  kinds, 
especially  those  of  touch.  The  meaning  of  such  an 
object  as  a  watch,  when  we  are  looking  at  it,  is  bound 
up  with  the  touch  qualities  that  in  former  experiences 
have  been  connected  with  it.  It  is,  of  course,  untrue 
that  when  we  look  at  the  watch  we  actually  remem- 
ber our  various  experiences  of  touching  and  seeing  it 
and  other  watches  in  the  past;  yet  they  enter  into  the 
total  meaning  we  give  the  experience. 

Aristotle's  illusion.  —  That  the  total  meaning  given 
to  an  object  or  situation  is  dependent  upon  past  ex- 
perience may  be  illustrated  by  a  simple  illusion  of  the 
sense  of  touch  which  was  described  by  Aristotle  and  is 
known  as  Aristotle's  illusion.  If  one  crosses  the  first 
and  second  finger  and  touches  an  object,  such  as  a 
lead-pencil,  with  the  outside  edges  of  the  fingers,  the 
object  will  appear  double.  This  is  because  under  or- 
dinary conditions  there  must  be  two  objects  present 


90  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

in  order  that  they  may  give  rise  to  touch  sensations  in 
these  portions  of  the  fingers  at  one  and  the  same  time. 
Hence,  we  give  the  present  sensations  of  touch  the 
same  meaning  as  when  we  have  had  former  similar 
experiences. 

Filling  in  the  blind  spot.  —  It  has  already  been 
pointed  out  that  a  certain  small  part  (the  blind  spot) 
of  the  retina  of  each  eye  is  not  sensitive  to  light.  If 
the  left  eye  is  closed,  and  the  right  eye  is  fixed  stead- 
ily on  the  point  marked  with  the  cross  in  Fig.  19,  and 


Fig.  19.  Diagram  to  show  the  presence  of  the  blind  spot  and  per- 
ceptual "filling  in."  If  the  left  eye  is  closed  and  the  right  fixated  on 
the  cross,  the  black  spot  will  disappear  when  the  page  is  held  about 
seven  inches  from  the  face. 


the  book  moved  slowly  backward  and  forward,  that  is, 
away  from  and  toward  the  face,  there  will  be  found 
a  position  about  seven  inches  from  the  eye  where  the 
round  spot  disappears.  This  is  because  the  round  spot 
is  now  imaged  upon  that  part  of  the  retina  which  is 
blind.  The  interesting  part  of  the  experiment  from 
the  standpoint  of  our  present  discussion,  however,  is 
that,  while  the  round  spot  disappears,  there  is  no 
break  in  the  background  at  this  point.  The  back- 
ground appears  as  a  uniform  surface.  The  interpreta- 
tion or  meaning  given  the  experience  depends  on  past 
experience,  and,  since  such  backgrounds  are  usually  uni- 
form, the  usual  interpretation  is  put  on  the  present 


PERCEPTION  91 

experience,  and  the  space  is  filled  in,  the  background 
seeming  uniform  in  character,  even  though  no  sensa- 
tions are  coming  from  a  certain  portion  of  the  page,  as 
shown  by  disappearance  of  the  round  spot. 

All  perceptual  meanings  derived  from  past  experi- 
ence. —  While  it  is  easier  to  see  the  influence  of  past 
experience  in  the  case  of  such  illusions  as  we  have 
just  described,  it  is  quite  as  true  that  it  forms  an 
essential  part  of  all  our  perceptual  experiences.  Our 
experiences  of  all  the  objects  that  we  perceive  are 
based  on  interpretations  of  present  sensations  made  in 
the  light  of  past  experience.  In  this  way  the  present 
visual  sensations  of  yellow  from  a  brass  candlestick, 
for  example,  convey  much  more  information  than  that 
of  mere  color.  They  are  present  signs  of  all  past  ex- 
periences of  the  smoothness  to  the  sense  of  touch,  the 
hardness,  the  coldness,  and  the  heaviness,  which  have 
been  experienced  in  connection  with  these  and  similar 
objects  and  which  are  now  inextricably  bound  up  with 
the  present  sensations  of  color. 

The  visual  sense  is  usually  the  direct  source  of  most 
of  our  perceptions,  but  the  process  is  the  same  when 
other  senses  are  the  ones  that  directly  contribute  the 
sensations.  When  an  object  is  touched  in  the  dark, 
for  example,  past  experiences  of  a  visual  sort  assist 
in  the  meaning  given  the  experience.  The  song  of  a 
bird,  if  it  is  familiar,  gives  a  perception  of  the  bird, 
which  to  some  persons  is  more  satisfying  than  seeing 
the  bird.     Such  persons  are  naturally  more  sensitive 


92        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

to  sounds  than  colors  and  shapes  of  small  moving  ob- 
jects, and  their  interests  have  been  of  such  a  character 
as  to  lead  them  to  prefer  the  auditory  meanings. 

Since  the  perception  of  objects  is  not  entirely  the 
result  of  the  present  immediate  sensations,  it  follows 
that  our  consciousness  of  objects  is  being  continually 
built  up  and  developed.  A  child's  perception  of  ob- 
jects is  not  to  be  regarded  as  the  same  as  an  adult's,  nor 
one  adult's  the  same  as  another's.  What  is  seen, 
heard,  and  felt  depends  on  what  has  been  experienced, 
and  we  cannot  take  it  for  granted  that  a  child  sees 
just  what  we  see,  even  though  he  is  made  to  attend 
carefully.  He  lacks  the  necessary  experience  to  put 
the  same  meaning  into  his  sensations  as  does  the  adult. 

Perception  of  space.  —  Thus  far  we  have  been  en- 
gaged in  discussing  the  perceptual  unity  of  objects, 
that  is,  the  relation  of  oneness  which  exists  between 
certain  sensations  that  go  together  to  make  up  our 
perception  of  a  single  object.  Besides  the  unity  of 
perceived  objects,  there  is  another  important  rela- 
tionship which  exists  between  the  sensory  qualities  of 
every  object,  namely,  the  relationship  of  space.  Every 
object  as  perceived  is  located  at  a  certain  point  in  space 
and  has  size  (length,  breadth,  and  thickness).  This 
relationship  of  space  is  an  important  aspect  of  the  per- 
ceptual process.  Careful  analysis  of  space  percep- 
tion will  show  that  the  main  points  that  we  have 
brought  out  concerning  perception  in  general  are  true 
also  of  the  perception  of  space.    Space  as  perceived  is 


PERCEPTION  93 

(1)  the  result  of  gradual  development,  and  (2)  in- 
volves an  interpretation  based  both  (a)  on  the  relating 
of  present  sensations  to  one  another  and  (b)  on  past 
experience. 

The  characteristics  of  size  and  of  position  in  space 
which  objects  have,  seem  at  first  thought  to  be  imme- 
diately and  directly  experienced  through  the  organs 
of  sense  as  other  qualities  of  objects.  A  little  re- 
flection, however,  shows  that,  while  such  qualities  as 
we  have  discussed  in  the  chapter  on  sensations  are  all 
due  to  some  form  of  physical  energy  (air  waves,  ether 
waves),  no  such  physical  forms  of  energy  are  related 
to  the  spatial  characteristics  of  objects.  Our  further 
study  will  show  that  space  is  a  type  of  relationship  that 
has  been  built  up  between  the  various  sensory  quali- 
ties in  the  course  of  our  experience. 

Auditory  space.  —  Not  all  the  senses  give  us  spatial 
experiences  to  the  same  degree.  Smell  and  taste,  for 
example,  alone  and  without  the  help  of  the  other 
senses,  give  us  little  or  no  information  of  the  size  and 
location  of  things.  Hearing  without  the  aid  of  the 
other  senses  gives  us  no  notion  of  the  size  of  things, 
though  it  does  of  their  location.  It  is  true  that  we  can 
often  tell  by  the  nature  of  a  sound  something  of  the 
size  of  the  object  that  has  emitted  it,  since  a  loud  sound 
usually  goes  with  large  objects  and  less  intense  sounds 
with  smaller  objects.  But  this  information  is  clearly 
due  to  past  experience  in  which  other  senses  have  co- 
operated with  that  of  hearing. 


94  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

By  a  simple  sort  of  experimental  analysis,  it  may  be 
shown  that  when  we  are  able  to  locate  the  direction 
from  which  sounds  come,  the  ability  to  do  so  is  not 
due  merely  to  the  auditory  sensations  simply  as  sen- 
sations. If  a  sound  is  made  in  the  plane  that  runs 
vertically  half  way  between  the  two  ears,  it  will  be 
found  that  without  the  aid  of  the  other  senses  it  is 
impossible  to  tell  from  what  point  in  this  plane  the 
sound  comes,  although  it  is  easy  to  tell  that  it  comes 
from  some  point  half  way  between  the  two  ears.  This 
is  because  a  sound  is  usually  located  by  the  aid  of  the 
difference  in  intensity  in  the  two  ears.  If  the  sound 
is  at  the  right  it  is  more  intense  in  the  right  ear,  and 
if  on  the  left  it  is  more  intense  in  the  left  ear.  It  is 
this  difference  that  is  the  cue  to  the  location  of  sound. 

This  may  be  further  proved  by  extending  the  ex- 
periment so  as  to  make  two  sounds  of  similar  quality 
at  the  same  moment  at  both  sides  of  the  head,  as 
may  be  done  by  the  use  of  two  telephones  each  of  which 
is  in  the  same  electric  circuit.  If  the  two  telephones 
are  placed  at  equal  distances  from  the  two  ears  and 
sound  together,  there  seems  to  be  but  one  sound,  lo- 
cated somewhere  in  the  median  plane  (half  way  be- 
tween the  two  ears).  If  the  telephone  on  the  right, 
however,  is  placed  nearer  than  that  on  the  left,  so  that 
the  intensity  of  the  sensation  is  greater  in  the  right 
ear  than  in  the  left,  the  sound  will  appear  to  come  from 
the  right.  This  experiment  illustrates  very  well  what 
has  been  already  referred  to  as  perceptual  fusion.    Any 


PERCEPTION  95 

sound  makes  two  impressions,  one  on  the  right  and  the 
other  on  the  left  ear.  Nevertheless,  in  consciousness 
these  two  impressions  appear  as  one;  they  are  fused. 
In  the  total  result  a  difference  in  intensity  in  the  two 
impressions  means  for  consciousness  a  certain  direction. 
It  is  seen,  then,  that  whereas  locating  sound  seems  to 
be  a  simple  and  immediate  process,  it  is  in  reality  com- 
plex and  the  indirect  result  of  relating  sensations  to 
one  another  in  the  light  of  past  experience. 

Visual  space.  —  Turning  from  hearing  to  vision,  a 
similar  problem  confronts  us,  and  the  solution  of  the 
problem  is  also  similar.  Nothing  seems  more  direct 
and  immediate  than  the  visual  perception  of  the  size 
of  objects.  But  it  may  easily  be  shown  that  the  sen- 
sations from  seen  objects  are  not  sufficient  ground  for 
the  perception  of  their  size.  If  they  were,  the  boy 
in  Fig.  20  would  look  as  tall  as  the  man;  for  the 
drawings  are  of  the  same  height  and  must  make  im- 
ages on  the  retina  that  are  of  the  same  size.  The 
picture,  however,  by  its  perspective  suggests  that  the 
man  is  farther  away  than  the  boy.  In  addition  to  this, 
we  have  learned  from  past  experience  that  boys  in 
general  are  smaller  than  men.  For  these  two  reasons, 
although  the  picture  of  the  boy  is  the  same  height  as 
that  of  the  man,  the  meaning  we  give  to  the  picture 
is  that  the  boy  is  smaller.  Just  so,  in  all  our  visual 
perception  of  size  the  retinal  image  is  always  inter- 
preted in  the  light  of  such  factors  as  distance  and 


96 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


past  experience,  as  well  as  other  factors  that  we  can- 
not go  into  here. 


Fig.  20.    The  actual  height  of  the  figure  of  the  boy  is  the  same 
as  that  of  the  man. 


Perception  of  the  third  dimension. — The  percep- 
tion of  the  third  dimension  (thickness  or  depth)  of 


PERCEPTION  97 

objects  through  the  sense  of  sight  is  brought  about  in 
an  analogous  manner  to  the  perception  of  direction  of 
sounds.  Sounds  are  heard  with  different  degrees  of  in- 
tensity in  the  two  ears.  So  also  the  retinal  images 
from  a  solid  object  are  slightly  different.  The  right 
eye  sees  a  little  farther  around  the  right  side  of  a  solid 
object  and  the  left  eye  a  little  farther  arbund  the  left 
side  of  the  object.  Just  as  the  two  impressions  in  the 
two  ears  fuse  into  one  sound,  the  two  impressions 
that  come  from  the  two  eyes  fuse  into  a  single  object, 
and  just  as  the  difference  of  intensity  in  the  former 
case  means  direction,  so  in  the  latter  case  the  differ- 
ence in  the  retinal  images  means  solidity. 

These  facts  concerning  visual  perception  of  solidity 
may  be  proved  very  simply  through  the  use  of  the 
stereoscope.  This  instrument  makes  use  of  two 
slightly  different  pictures  of  the  same  object  or  scene, 
these  being  obtained  by  photographing  with  two 
lenses  placed  a  short  distance  apart.  The  stereoscope 
is  so  constructed  that  the  right  eye  sees  only  the  right- 
eye  picture  and  the  left  eye  only  the  left-eye  picture. 
By  means  of  lenses  the  stereoscope  makes  the  two  pic- 
tures appear  to  come  from  the  same  direction.  Thus 
artificially  we  have  reproduced  by  pictures  conditions 
similar  to  those  that  are  always  present  when  we  look 
at  solid  objects.  The  result  is  that  in  looking  through 
the  stereoscope  at  such  pictures  the  objects  repre- 
sented appear  solid  and  the  distances  between  the  vari- 
ous objects  in  the  picture  stand  out  as  in  real  life. 


98  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

Tactual  space.  —  Even  in  connection  with  the  sense 
of  touch  it  is  easy  to  show  that  the  spatial  meanings 
are  not  directly  given  with  the  sensations,  but  rather 
grow  up  gradually  in  the  course  of  our  experiences.  If 
two  points,  such  as  the  points  of  a  pair  of  dividers 
slightly  blunted,  are  placed  at  the  same  time  on  any 
portion  of  the  skin,  it  will  be  found  that  they  must  be 
a  certain  distance  apart  before  they  are  recognized 
as  two  points.  If  the  distance  is  less  they  appear  to 
the  sense  of  touch  as  one  point.  If  the  points  of  the 
dividers  are  gradually  separated,  a  distance  will  be 
found  where  they  are  just  recognized  as  two.  This 
distance  at  which  the  points  are  just  recognized  as 
two  is  called  the  spatial  threshold  for  touch.  Now, 
this  threshold  varies  at  different  parts  of  the  skin. 
It  is  small  at  those  parts  of  the  skin  that  are  most 
used  in  actively  touching  things,  such  as  the  finger- 
tips, and  very  large  on  the  unused  portions,  such  as  the 
middle  of  the  back.  Sensations  of  touch,  then,  on  the 
finger-tips  give  rise  to  different  space  meanings  from 
those  that  similar  sensations  of  touch  give  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  back.  Moreover,  the  spatial  threshold  of 
a  given  area  of  the  skin  can  be  reduced  by  practice. 

Habits  and  perception  develop  together.  —  These 
are  only  a  few  of  the  facts  that  go  to  show  that  the 
world  of  space  which  we  perceive  is  not  immediately 
presented  with  sensations,  but  is  gradually  built  up 
in  the  course  of  our  experience.  Objects  are  not  re- 
flected into  consciousness  as  into  a  mirror,  but  the  sen- 


PERCEPTION  99 

sations  to  which  they  give  rise  are  merely  the  materials 
which  are  taken  up  and  assimilated  with  past  experi- 
ence and  with  one  another.  Perception  is,  therefore, 
not  a  stable,  unchanging  process.  The  young  child 
begins  by  making  random  movements,  during  which 
he  comes  into  contact  with  objects  that  at  first  he 
neither  perceives  nor  locates  in  the  fully  developed 
adult  fashion.  The  groping  movements  of  the  child 
are  not  only  due  to  his  lack  of  muscular  control,  but 
also  to  the  fact  that  he  has  not  yet  learned  the  spatial 
relations  of  the  objects  surrounding  him.  Objects  far 
beyond  his  reach  are  grasped  at.  When  he  does  come 
into  contact  by  the  sense  of  touch  with  objects,  other 
sensations,  such  as  visual  and  in  some  cases  auditory 
sensations,  from  the  same  objects  are  present.  All 
these  are  gradually  fused  and  related  so  as  to  have 
meaning,  including  position  and  size. 

In  this  process  sensations  from  the  muscles  of  the 
limbs  and  the  eyes,  which  always  arise  when  they  are 
moved,  are  also  of  great  importance  in  making  up  the 
total  complex  process  of  perception.  At  the  same  time, 
the  sensory  part  of  the  process  is  accompanied  by 
corresponding  motor  processes.  The  child  cannot  be 
said  to  perceive  objects  in  any  true  sense  until  he  has 
learned  to  react  toward  them.  To  react  toward  them 
means  any  sort  of  muscular  reaction,  either  of  limbs 
or  eyes  or  ears,  and  all  of  these  varied  activities  con- 
stitute perceptual  habits. 

A  case  of  perceptual  development  in  adult  life.  — 


100  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

Most  of  our  purely  perceptual  habits  have  been  fully 
developed  long  before  we  reach  an  adult  age.  More- 
over, the  development  that  takes  place  is  usually  so 
gradual  as  to  take  place  without  being  noticed.  Some 
light  on  this  point  may,  however,  be  gleaned  from  some 
illuminating  experiments  of  Judd  with  the  Miiller-Lyer 
illusion.  In  the  light  of  these  experiments  the  Miiller- 
Lyer  illusion  may  be  regarded  as  a  case  of  undeveloped 
perception,  for  they  show  that  a  person  may  overcome 
the  illusion  through  practice. 

The  experiment  was  performed  in  the  following 
manner:  A  and  B  (Fig.  21)  represent  two  pieces  of 
cardboard,  each  containing  a  portion  of  the  illusory 
figure.  When  B  is  placed  over  A  in  such  a  position  that 
the  horizontal  lines  are  in  one  and  the  same  straight 
line,  the  Miiller-Lyer  figure  is  obtained  in  one  of  its 
ordinary  forms.  A  person  who  did  not  know  of  the 
illusory  character  of  the  figure  Was  asked  to  set  the 
cards  so  as  to  make  the  two  horizontal  lines  seem  equal. 
By  measuring  the  two  lines  after  this  had  been  done, 
the  experimenter  could  find  out  the  amount  of  his 
subject's  illusion.  This  process  of  setting  the  cards 
Was  repeated  time  after  time  without  the  subject  being 
allowed  to  know  the  results  of  the  measurements.  It 
was  found  that  after  many  trials  made  in  this  way 
the  illusion  disappeared,  the  cards  being  finally  set  so 
that  the  two  lines  were  practically  equal.  The  sub- 
ject actually  saw  the  figure  in  a  different  way,  although 
he  was  not  aware  of  the  change.    Perceptual  develop- 


PERCEPTION 


101 


raent  had  taken  place  in  the  course  of  the  manipulation 
of  the  cards. 

But  this  account  of  what  takes  place  in  the  develop- 
ment of  perception  is  not  finished  with  the  description 
of  the  change  in  the  sensory  processes.    Along  with  the 


Fig.  21. 

development  in  the  perceptual  process  there  develops 
a  new  habit  of  looking  at  the  figure,  as  can  be  shown 
by  photographing  the  eyes  by  means  of  a  kinetoscopic 
camera.  The  movements  of  the  eyes  in  following  the 
lines  of  the  figure  were  photographed  before  and  after 
practice.  The  results  show  that  the  eyes  move  quite 
differently  in  passing  along  the  lines  after  the  illusion 


102  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

disappears.  Whereas  at  first  the  movements  are  im- 
peded at  the  parts  of  the  figure  where  the  acute  angles 
occur,  after  practice  the  eyes  move  smoothly  along  at 
these  points.  A  new  habit  of  eye  movement  has  de- 
veloped as  a  result  of  the  practice. 

Illustration  from  child  life.  —  The  way  in  which  the 
sensory  and  motor  processes  of  perception  develop  to- 
gether has  been  well  illustrated  by  Angell  as  follows: 

Let  us  take  the  possible  course  of  events  involved 
in  a  baby's  acquiring  the  perception  of  a  bell.  Obvi- 
ously the  visual  factors  involved  cannot  be  satisfac- 
torily employed  until  some  control  has  been  attained 
over  the  eye  muscles,  so  that  the  child's  eyes  are  able 
to  converge  and  follow  an  object.  This  attainment  is 
commonly  achieved  about  the  third  or  fourth  week  of 
life,  although  there  is  great  variation  here.  If  the  child 
never  touched  the  bell  and  never  heard  it,  he  might  still 
learn  to  recognize  it,  when  he  saw  it,  as  something  he 
had  seen  before;  but  he  evidently  would  have  no  such 
perception  of  it  as  you  or  I  have.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  bell  will  be  put  into  his  hand,  and  during  the  ran- 
dom movements  of  the  hand  his  eye  will  sometimes  fall 
upon  it.  The  occasional  repetition  of  this  experience 
will  soon  serve  to  fix  the  association  of  the  touch- 
hand-movement  feelings  with  the  visual  consciousness 
of  the  bell,  so  that  the  thing  seen  will  inevitably  sug- 
gest the  thing  felt  and  moved,  and  vice  versa.  More- 
over, all  the  time  this  has  been  going  on  there  have 
been  sensory  stimulations  of  sound  from  the  bell.  This 
group  of  elements,  therefore,  becomes  annexed  to  the 
rest  of  the  group,  and  straightway  we  have  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  process  by  which,  when  we  see  or  touch 


PERCEPTION  103 

or  hear  a  certain  kind  of  object,  we  promptly  perceive 
it  as  a  bell,  i.  e.,  as  a  something  to  which  a  certain  mass 
of  familiar  experience  belongs. 

In  this  description  may  be  seen  the  two  ways  in 
which  the  child  begins  to  acquire  a  mastery  over  the 
world  of  objects  around  him.  The  development  is  both 
sensory  and  motor.  Not  only  does  the  group  of  sensa- 
tions from  the  object  become  organized  into  a  unified 
whole  with  a  definite  meaning,  but  an  organized  re- 
sponse or  habit  is  developed.  Furthermore,  the  sen- 
sory and  motor  sides  of  the  process  are  parts  of  a  total 
process  that  is  itself  unified  and  organized.  In  other 
words,  perception  and  the  motor  response  develop  to- 
gether, and  the  meaning  of  the  experience  is  bound  up 
not  only  with  sensory  impressions  but  also  with  the 
adjustments  to  which  they  give  rise. 

Apperception.  —  We  have  seen  that  there  are  two 
phases  to  the  process  of  perception:  (1)  the  reception 
of  sensory  impressions  and  (2)  giving  to  these  impres- 
sions a  meaning  or  interpretation.  While  the  second 
part  of  the  process  is  essential  to  perception,  some 
writers  use  a  separate  word — apperception — to  distin- 
guish this  aspect  of  perception  from  the  mere  recep- 
tion of  sensory  impressions.  Apperception  is,  then, 
the  process  of  assimilating  present  experiences  to  the 
whole  background  of  former  experiences.  Since  new 
experiences  are  always  interpreted  or  given  a  meaning 
in  the  light  of  old  experiences,  the  new  can  be  cor- 


104  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

rectly  interpreted  only  if  the  person  has  the  correct 
background  of  former  experiences.  For  this  reason 
it  is  of  little  use  to  present  new  experiences  to  the  child 
unless  his  mind  is  prepared  for  the  reception  of  the 
new  facts.  One  cannot  properly  take  for  granted  that 
the  child  has  the  correct  background  of  experience  for 
the  proper  interpretation  of  any  new  material  what- 
ever. Careful  investigations  of  what  the  child  knows 
when  he  enters  school  shows  that  the  children  of  one 
neighborhood  differ  very  much  from  those  of  another 
in  their  knowledge,  and  that  one  individual  child  dif- 
fers much  from  another  in  this  respect.  Many  city 
children,  for  example,  know  nothing  of  natural  ob- 
jects that  much  of  the  instruction  of  the  school  takes 
for  granted.  Girls  and  boys  differ  very  much  in  rela- 
tion to  the  kind  of  things  they  know. 

These  facts  are  the  more  important  since  it  is  a  well- 
known  tendency  of  the  child,  with  his  limited  experi- 
ence, to  fall  back  on  pure  fancy  for  the  meanings  that 
he  gives  to  new  experiences.  This  is  especially  true 
of  the  meanings  of  words  for  which  the  child  has  not 
had  the  corresponding  concrete  experiences.  It  is  a 
tendency  of  the  human  mind — and,  as  we  shall  see 
later,  a  very  useful  tendency — to  supplement  the  gaps 
in  our  knowledge  by  imagination.  But  in  the  child 
this  tendency  is  a  weakness,  since  it  leads  him  to  ac- 
cept all  sorts  of  fanciful  meanings  that  give  rise  to  error. 
The  child  lacks  the  wide  experience  and  the  critical 
judgment  necessary  for  curbing  the  flights  of  imagina- 


PERCEPTION  105 

tion.  The  same  tendency  and  weakness  give  rise  to 
children's  lies,  many  of  which  are  not  so  serious  from 
the  moral  point  of  view  as  is  sometimes  thought.  They 
point  to  intellectual  weakness  and  lack  of  development 
rather  than  to  moral  obliquity. 

All  of  this  goes  to  show  that  the  child  needs  a  first- 
hand knowledge  of  concrete  objects  and  situations. 
Intellectual  development  begins  with  and  is  based  on 
perception.  Each  sense  brings  us  a  knowledge  of  the 
external  world  that  can  be  obtained  in  no  other  way, 
and  so  all  the  so-called  higher  intellectual  processes, 
such  as  memory,  imagination,  conception,  judgment, 
and  reasoning,  are  dependent  on  the  data  given  by 
these  senses.  The  only  substitute  for  actual  contact 
With  objects  and  events  is  through  some  form  of  sym- 
bol (pictures,  maps,  models)  or  word  symbols.  At 
best  the  symbol  is  a  poor  substitute  for  the  actual 
thing;  but  a  word  is  an  absolutely  empty  symbol  with- 
out first  being  connected  with  the  proper  experience, 
since  it  in  no  way  is  like  the  object  and  can  represent  it 
only  by  convention. 

References 

Colvin,  S.  S.    The  Learning  Process.    Chapters  V,  VI. 

(Maemillan,  1911.) 
Hall,  G.  S.     Aspects  of  Child  Life  and  Education. 

Pp.  1-52.     (Ginn,  1907.) 
Judd,   C.   H.     Psychology.     Chapter   VIII.      (Ginn, 

1917.) 


106  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

Meumann,  E.    The  Psychology  of  Learning.    Chapter 

IV.     (Appleton,  1913.) 
Whipple,  G.  M.     Manual  of  Mental  and  Physical 

Tests.    Chapter  VIII.     (Warwick  and  York,  1910.) 


CHAPTER  VI 
MEMORY  AND  IMAGINATION 

The  mental  image.  — A  mental  image  is  the  experi- 
ence of  objects  that  are  not  at  the  time  stimulating 
the  sense-organs.  One  may  close  the  eyes  and  yet  call 
to  mind  the  visual  appearance  of  an  object.  One  may 
have  in  one's  consciousness  a  melody  that  is  not  actu- 
ally the  result  of  present  hearing.  So,  too,  there  are 
mental  images  belonging  to  each  of  the  other  sensory 
spheres,  olfactory  (smell),  gustatory  (taste),  tactual 
(touch),  etc. 

While  mental  images  do  not  depend  upon  present 
stimulation  of  the  sense-organs,  they  nevertheless  de- 
pend upon  former  sensory  stimulations.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  have  a  mental  image  except  in  so  far  as  the 
elements  of  the  image  have  been  experienced  through 
the  senses.  A  person  born  blind  does  not  have  any 
visual  mental  images.  Such  a  person  cannot  even 
imagine  what  a  visual  mental  image  is  like.  None  of 
us  could  imagine  in  any  adequate  way  what  an  ex- 
perience would  be  like  which  depended  on  some  sense- 
organ  that  we  do  not  possess.  Mental  images  are  re- 
productions or  revivals  of  past  sensory  experiences. 

Imagination.  —  Mental   images,   however,   may  be 

107 


108  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

formed  from  new  combinations  of  old  elements,  and 
in  this  sense  they  are  new.  When  this  recombination 
or  reconstruction  of  the  old  elements  has  taken  place 
in  mental  imagery,  the  process  is  called  imagination. 
The  results  of  imagination  vary  all  the  way  from  pure 
fancies,  such  as  sea-serpents  or  centaurs,  to  historical 
romance  and  scientific  invention. 

It  is  probable  that  mental  images,  even  in  the  form 
of  memory  images,  are  never  absolutely  faithful  re- 
flections of  the  past.  A  mental  image  is  never  more 
than  a  representation  of  what  has  been  already  ex- 
perienced. But  it  has  also  the  advantage  of  being 
made  over  to  suit  the  individual's  own  convenience. 
This  reconstructive  process  always  goes  on  to  some 
extent.  Ask  two  persons  who  have  witnessed  the  same 
events  to  recount  them,  and  they  will  differ,  often  very 
vitally.  Not  only  have  they  observed  the  events  dif- 
ferently, but  they  have  remembered  them  differently. 
They  put  a  different  emphasis  on  what  has  been  ob- 
served, and  the  result  is  the  discrepancies  in  their  ac- 
counts. 

Memory.  — When  the  mental  images  are  recognized 
as  coming  from  the  past,  they  are  known  as  memories. 
Memories  range  from  events  that  are  definitely  lo- 
cated in  time  and  place  to  facts  that  have  been  learned 
and  are  merely  referred  to  the  past,  though  not 
definitely. 

Behavior  based  on  images  indirect.  — It  will  be  seen 
that  mental  imagery  arises,  not  immediately  from  our 


MEMORY  AND  IMAGINATION  109 

experience  of  objects,  but  indirectly.  For  this  rea- 
son, behavior  based  on  mental  images  is  related  not 
so  much  to  the  immediate  environment  as  to  what  has 
happened  in  the  past  and  what  may  happen  in  the 
future.  Man,  because  of  the  capacity  for  forming  these 
images,  becomes  independent  of  his  immediate  en- 
vironment. His  conduct  may  have  reference  to  fu- 
ture ends,  and  may  be  governed  according  to  past  ex- 
perience to  a  greater  extent  than  is  the  case  with 
animals  incapable  of  forming  mental  imagery. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  man  begins  to  be  most  sharply 
differentiated  mentally  from  the  lower  animals.  For, 
even  though  it  may  possibly  be  true  that  some  of  the 
higher  of  the  lower  animals  have  this  capacity,  never- 
theless their  behavior  is  for  the  most  part  called  forth 
by  the  immediate  stimulus  of  external  objects.  On 
the  other  hand,  all  of  man's  most  significant  behavior 
is  made  on  the  basis  of  future  ends  and  in  the 
light  of  past  experience.  For  example,  man  pro- 
vides food  and  shelter  because  he  foresees  their  ne- 
cessity. Some  of  the  lower  animals,  like  squirrels  and 
bees,  lay  up  a  supply  of  food,  but  their  actions  in  this 
respect  are  instinctive  and  probably  imply  no  pictur- 
ing to  themselves  of  the  future  occasions  when  the 
food  supply  will  be  needed. 

It  is  in  this  way  that  man  becomes  to  a  large  ex- 
tent independent  of  his  environment.  He  learns  his 
environment  as  it  actually  is  through  perception,  and 
reconstructs  it  mentally.     His  actions  are  then  gov- 


110  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

erned  by  these  mental  reconstructions.  Man  is  thus 
free  to  act  according  to  inner  motives  and  conditions 
of  his  own  making,  while  the  lower  animals  are  bound 
by  their  immediate  circumstances  and  the  compulsion 
of  external  events. 

Some  learning  does  not  involve  true  memory. — 
While  this  statement  is  true,  it  must  not  be  thought 
that  the  lower  animals  cannot  profit  by  past  experi- 
ence. Animals  far  down  in  the  scale  of  animal  crea- 
tion are  capable  of  learning.  It  might  be  said  that  this 
implies  memory  on  the  part  of  such  animals.  It  is 
true  that  it  implies  at  least  retention;  but,  properly 
speaking,  memory  involves  more  than  mere  retention. 
It  involves  recognition,  a  conscious  reference  of  the 
experience  to  the  experiencer's  past.  As  we  have  al- 
ready seen,  past  experience  always  enters  into  the  in- 
terpretation of  the  sensory  data  in  the  process  of  per- 
ception. But  there  is  no  consciousness  in  such  cases 
of  the  part  that  past  experience  is  playing.  The  past 
experiences  connected  with  the  objects  perceived  have 
become  so  organized  into  the  present  experience  as 
not  to  be  a  recognizable  factor  except  by  such  an  an- 
alysis as  we  made  in  discussing  perception. 

Conditions  of  revival.  — Theoretically  every  percep- 
tual experience  we  have  ever  had  is  capable  of  being 
revived  at  some  time  in  some  form  of  mental  image; 
but  practically  only  a  limited  number  of  these  experi- 
ences are  actually  revived.  Since  the  practical  use- 
fulness of  the  ability  to  form  mental  images  depends 


MEMORY  AND  IMAGINATION  111 

upon  the  possibility  of  reviving  the  earlier  experiences 
when  most  needed,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
we  should  know  what  the  conditions  for  revival  are. 

Mental  images  form  a  related  series.  —  First  of  all, 
we  note  that  our  mental  images  do  not  usually  occur 
in  purely  haphazard  fashion,  but  are  suggested  either 
by  something  we  hear  or  see  or  otherwise  experience 
perceptually,  or  else  by  some  other  mental  images. 
Here  as  elsewhere  in  our  mental  life,  the  processes  are 
not  separate  and  independent,  but  are  related  to  one 
another;  they  form  a  related  series  or  train  of  proc- 
esses. 

It  may  perhaps  be  questioned  whether  all  of  our 
mental  images  are  suggested  by  other  experiences. 
Things  frequently  seem  to  "pop  into  the  head,"  as 
we  say.  In  many  of  these  instances  a  little  careful 
introspection  will  show  that  there  were  really  present 
some  experiences  that  have  escaped  our  notice,  and 
these  are  the  experiences  that  have  suggested  the  ap- 
parently sudden  thought.  In  other  instances,  however, 
as  in  the  persistent  revival  of  a  melody  that  keeps 
running  in  the  head  for  a  long  time,  the  mental  images 
seem  to  be  revived  merely  because  of  their  own  strength 
and  not  because  they  have  been  suggested  by  anything 
else. 

Law  of  association  —  The  general  rule,  however,  is 
for  mental  images  to  occur  by  virtue  of  other  experi- 
ences with  which  they  have  been  associated.  This 
principle  is  usually  referred  to  as  the  law  of  associa- 


112  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

tion,  which  states  that  when  two  experiences  have 
occurred  at  the  same  time  or  successively  the  revival 
or  recurrence  of  one  of  them  tends  to  revive  the 
other.  The  revival  of  the  second  experience  is  the  more 
likely  to  occur  the  closer  the  association  that  has  been 
formed  between  the  two  experiences.  The  closeness 
of  the  association  will  depend  on  various  factors  which 
will  now  be  described. 

Recency.  —  Other  things  being  equal,  the  more  re- 
cently the  experiences  occurred  together  the  more 
likely  are  they  to  recur  together.  While  we  do  not 
exactly  know  what  brain  processes  are  at  the  basis  of 
association,  it  seems  that  connections  of  some  sort 
must  exist  between  the  nervous  elements  whose  func- 
tioning is  related  to  the  associated  mental  images.  We 
have  already  learned  to  look  for  the  connections  be- 
tween neurones  at  the  synapses,  and  we  have  seen  that 
there  is  evidence  that  the  resistance  of  the  synapses 
between  various  neurones  varies  with  use.  It  would 
appear  that  the  synapses  between  the  neurones  that 
we  are  now  considering  are  the  more  open  to  the  pas- 
sage of  the  nervous  current  the  more  recently  they 
have  been  used. 

Much  of  what  is  known  as  learning  consists  in  the 
formation  of  associations.  It  is,  of  course,  trite  to 
state  that  the  more  recently  a  thing  has  been  learned 
the  more  likely  is  it  to  be  remembered ;  but  to  rely  on 
this  factor  of  recency  in  education,  as  in  the  case  of 
cramming  for  examinations,  is  a  bad  practice,  since  it 


MEMORY  AND  IMAGINATION  113 

is  productive  of  no  permanent  results.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  some  circumstances,  such  as  when  facts 
or  figures  must  be  at  one's  disposal  for  a  single  occa- 
sion, when  to  rely  on  this  factor  is  a  useful  method  of 
remembering  and  perfectly  legitimate. 

Frequency.  —  A  factor  in  the  process  of  forming 
associations  that  is  of  far  more  significance  for  learning 
is  that  of  frequency.  Other  things  being  equal,  the 
more  frequently  experiences  have  occurred  together, 
the  more  likely  are  they  to  be  revived  together.  The 
principle  of  the  overcoming  of  resistance  in  the  synap- 
ses by  frequency  of  use  has  already  been  described  in 
connection  with  the  subject  of  habit  formation.  The 
same  principle  holds  here.  Indeed,  it  may  jbe  said 
that  the  process  of  association  is  only  a  special  case 
of  habit  formation.  Permanent  associations  cannot 
usually  be  established  without  frequent  repetition; 
hence  the  necessity  of  drill  in  education. 

Vividness.  —  There  is  one  way,  however,  in  which  a 
permanent  association  may  be  set  up  without  frequent 
repetition.  That  way  is  by  means  of  making  the  ex- 
periences come  together  in  a  vivid  fashion.  Anything 
is  vivid  to  consciousness  that  is  sufficiently  attended 
to.  Hence,  the  better  the  attention  to  an  associated 
series  of  experiences,  the  less  frequently  will  it  be  nec- 
essary to  repeat  it  in  order  to  make  it  a  permanent  pos- 
session of  the  mind.  Since  vividness  depends  on  atten- 
tion, the  conditions  for  making  effective  use  of  this 
factor  in  forming  associations  will  be  the  same  condi- 


114  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

tions  as  relate  to  attention  in  general,  and  these  will 
be  discussed  later. 

Primacy.  —  A  special  condition  of  vividness  is  pri- 
macy. Experiences  met  with  for  the  first  time  are  par- 
ticularly vivid,  as  expressed  by  the  well-known  phrase, 
"First  impressions  are  lasting."  For  this  reason  it  is 
extremely  important  that  a  learner  should  get  what  he 
is  learning  correctly  the  first  time  he  meets  with  it. 
Otherwise,  he  not  only  has  to  break  down  an  incor- 
rect association,  but  he  also  loses  the  advantage  that 
comes  from  the  strength  of  the  first  impression. 

Emotional  tone.  —  The  fourth  factor  governing  the 
strength  of  associations  is  the  feeling  and  emotional 
character  of  the  experience.  Experiences  that  arouse 
intense  emotions  are  usually,  though  not  always,  on 
that  account  more  easily  remembered.  In  general, 
feelings  of  a  pleasurable  sort  facilitate  learning,  and 
unpleasant  feelings  retard  it.  Since  it  seems  to  be  a 
general  law  of  our  natures  to  forget  what  is  unpleasur- 
able  more  easily  than  what  is  pleasurable,  it  is  impor- 
tant that  the  learner's  activity  be  of  a  pleasurable 
nature  if  the  conditions  make  it  possible.  The  pleasur- 
able feeling  that  usually  accompanies  learning  is  inter- 
est, which  will  receive  separate  treatment  in  the  chapter 
on  attention. 

Mental  set.  —  There  is  still  another  factor  determin- 
ing association,  which  may  modify  the  effect  of  the 
factors  already  mentioned.  Recency,  frequency,  viv- 
idness, and  emotional  tone  describe  conditions  under 


MEMORY  AND  IMAGINATION  115 

which  associative  links  were  originally  made.  But  the 
condition  of  consciousness  at  the  time  when  the  sug- 
gested image  appears  may  be  quite  as  important  in 
determining  its  appearance  as  these  past  conditions. 
At  any  moment  consciousness  has  a  certain  trend  or 
direction  representing  the  interest  of  the  individual 
at  the  time.  This  mental  set,  or  attitude,  will  be  a 
factor  in  determining  which  of  many  possible  asso- 
ciated images  will  appear.  The  word  orange,  if  heard 
in  the  class-room  when  studying  sensations,  is  likely 
to  suggest  the  color;  if  heard  at  the  breakfast- table, 
the  fruit  itself  is  more  likely  to  be  called  to  mind. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  phase  of  the  associative  proc- 
ess is  closely  related  to  that  aspect  of  perception 
which  is  sometimes  called  apperception.  Indeed,  this 
term  is  sometimes  used  to  describe  the  influence  of 
"mental  set"  in  determining  associative  experiences. 
Each  individual  has  his  own  particular  mental  sets, 
sometimes  relatively  permanent,  sometimes  temporary, 
which  predetermine  his  associations  in  a  certain  way, 
varying  with  his  occupation,  moods,  and  interests. 

Amusing  illustrations  of  the  effect  of  "mental  set" 
are  sometimes  obtained  from  those  well-known  "catch" 
questions  where  an  attempt  is  made  to  predetermine 
a  person's  mind  in  a  certain  direction,  with  the  object 
of  making  him  make  mistakes.  Thus,  if  a  person  is 
asked  to  spell  "to"  the  preposition,  "too"  the  adverb, 
and  "two"  the  number,  and  then  to  spell  the  name  of 


116        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

the  second  day  of  the  week,  there  is  a  great  probability 
that  he  will  think  of  Tuesday  rather  than  Monday. 

It  was  this  aspect  of  the  mind's  functioning  which 
led  the  Herbartians  to  require  the  step  of  "prepara- 
tion" as  the  prerequisite  to  every  inductive  lesson. 
The  purpose  of  the  preparatory  step  is  to  give  the  pupil 
the  proper  "mental  set"  toward  the  new  material  of 
the  lesson.  By  question  and  answer  the  teacher  re- 
vives those  of  the  pupil's  former  experiences  that  are 
likely  to  be  of  value  in  interpreting  the  new  material, 
or  supplies  such  information  as  is  necessary  for  a 
proper  understanding  of  the  lesson. 

Free  associations.  —  Most  of  the  experimental  in- 
vestigations of  association  have  dealt  with  word  asso- 
ciations. One  method  is  that  of  so-called  free  asso- 
ciation. Here  the  subject  is  asked  to  begin  with  some 
word  (let  us  say  "play")  and  write  as  many  words 
as  come  to  mind  in  a  certain  time,  one  after  the  other. 
Under  such  conditions  a  surprising  number  of  words 
are  repeated  by  all  who  take  the  test.  One  investigator 
found  that  the  hundred  words  that  occurred  most  fre- 
quently in  fifty  such  lists  made  up  three-tenths  of  the 
total  number  of  words. 

Another  form  of  the  free  association  method  is  that 
in  wtfiich  a  list  of  certain  words  is  given  as  the  stimulus 
words  and  the  time  is  taken  for  the  response  to  each 
by  means  of  a  stop-watch.  Many  facts  of  importance 
in  the  mental  life  have  been  discovered  by  this  method. 
It  is  found,  for  example,  that  some  of  the  words  re- 


MEMORY  AND  IMAGINATION  117 

quire  a  much  longer  time  for  the  response  than  others. 
Such  words  are  usually  discovered  to  be  connected 
with  experiences  in  the  subject's  life  that  have  a  strong 
emotional  tone  or  that  the  subject  for  some  reason 
wishes  to  conceal.  A  criminal,  for  example,  would  be 
embarrassed  in  responding  to  words  suggestive  of  the 
crime,  and  this  method  has  therefore  been  used  to  de- 
tect knowledge  of  crime. 

Such  results  are  directly  related  to  the  views  of 
Freud,  wjio  holds  that  many  mental  disorders  result 
from  the  undue  repression  of  natural  desires,  espe- 
cially those  of  sex,  or  from  experiences  of  a  strongly 
emotional  character  which  the  person  seeks  to  forget. 
These  experiences  frequently  date  from  early  child- 
hood and  are,  in  fact,  forgotten,  but  their  effects  still 
persist.  The  educational  significance  of  Freud's  views 
is  in  their  warning  against  requiring  the  child  to  sub- 
mit to  unhealthy  repressions.  In  the  discussion  of 
instincts  we  have  seen  that  educational  ideals  require 
that  natural  desires  should  be  modified.  The  repres- 
sion of  instinctive  desires  is  not  dangerous  if  wisely 
undertaken.  In  matters  concerning  sex  relations,  espe- 
cially, an  atmosphere  of  greater  frankness  should  exist 
between  the  child  and  the  adult.  Only  in  this  way 
can  our  moral  standard  be  preserved  without  running 
grave  danger  of  injuring  the  mental  life  of  the  young. 

Controlled  association.  —  The  second  form  of  the 
association  experiment  is  that  of  limited  or  controlled 
association.    Here  the  subject,  instead  of  being  allowed 


118  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

to  respond  to  the  stimulus  word  with  any  word  he 
chooses,  is  required  to  respond  as  quickly  as  possible 
with  one  of  a  very  few  words  that  can  fit  the  terms 
of  the  instructions.  Common  forms  of  this  test  are 
the  part-whole,  opposites,  and  genus-species  tests.  If 
the  test  is  the  part-whole  test,  the  word  "tree"  would 
be  a  correct  response  to  "branch";  if  the  opposites, 
"shut"  would  be  followed  by  "open" ;  if  genus-species, 
"tree"  would  bring  the  response  "maple"  or  "oak," 
etc.  Tests  in  arithmetical  computations  (addition, 
subtraction,  etc.)  are  illustrations  of  the  strictly  lim- 
ited form  of  association,  since  the  response  in  each 
case  is  limited  to  the  only  one  that  is  correct.  Table 
I  gives  the  results  of  the  genus-species  tests  in  terms 
of  the  scores  made  by  children  from  eight  to  sixteen 
years  of  age.  The  words  used  were  door,  pillow,  let- 
ter, leaf,  button,  nose,  cover,  page,  engine,  glass. 

Table  I 


Age 

8 

9 

10     11 

12     13     14     15     16    Adults 

Median 

. . .      6.5 

7.8 

7.8    8.7 

8.7    9.0    9.0    9.0    9.0        10 

Individual  differences  in  mental  imagery.  —  It  has 
already  been  pointed  out  that  mental  images  may  be- 
long to  any  one  of  the  sense  spheres.  It  has  been  dis- 
covered that  different  individuals  think  about  the  same 
things  by  means  of  different  kinds  of  mental  images. 
Thus  some  individuals  seem  to  prefer  visual  images, 
others  auditory,  and  others  tactual,  etc.  Usually  the 
preference  for  a  certain  class  of  imagery  is  not  so  great 


MEMORY  AND  IMAGINATION  119 

as  to  preclude  all  other  kinds  of  mental  images,  but 
a  marked  preference  may  exist.  One  who  thinks  pre- 
dominantly in  terms  of  visual  images  is  called  a  vis- 
ualist;  the  audile  is  one  who  prefers  auditory  imagery; 
the  tactile  prefers  tactual  imagery;  and  the  motile  is 
one  whose  images  are  chiefly  revivals  of  muscular  sen- 
sations. In  many  cases  two  or  even  more  of  these 
forms  of  imagery  may  occur  simultaneously. 

If,  for  example,  a  person  forming  a  mental  image  of 
an  orange  sees  "in  his  mind's  eye"  a  colored  object, 
round  in  form,  he  is  using  the  visual  form  of  imagery. 
Another  person  in  thinking  of  an  orange  might  think 
of  its  touch  qualities,  such  as  the  roughness  of  the  skin, 
as  it  would  appear  if  passing  the  finger-tips  over 
its  surface.  This  would  be  a  tactual  image.  Un- 
doubtedly there  would  be  other  persons  wihose  images 
of  an  orange  would  be  revivals  of  its  taste  qualities — 
that  is,  gustatory  images. 

An  object  is  frequently  thought  of  without  forming 
any  image  of  the  qualities  of  the  object  itself,  but  rather 
of  the  word  standing  for  the  object.  In  thinking  of 
an  orange  a  mental  image  of  the  sound  of  the  word 
"orange"  (auditory  image),  the  visual  image  of  the 
word  as  printed  or  written,  or  the  revival  of  the  sen- 
sations from  the  speech  muscles  (kinaesthetic  image) 
as  they  would  be  used  in  pronouncing  the  word  may  all 
be  used  as  substitutes  for  the  direct  image  of  the  object. 

Word  imagery.  —  A  great  deal  of  mental  imagery  is 
thus  not  directly  concerned  with  objects  at  all,  but  with 


120  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

words.  Word  images  are  much  more  convenient  for 
purposes  of  thought  than  thing  imagery.  One  reason 
for  this  is  that  thought  frequently  has  to  do  with  that 
which  cannot  be  experienced  in  the  form  of  objects. 
For  most  persons  it  is  more  convenient  to  think  of 
electricity  through  the  medium  of  the  word  than  to 
imagine  it  as  an  object.  Many  persons  doubtless  do 
have  imagery  of  a  definite  kind  in  thinking  of  elec- 
tricity— but  most  do  not.  The  word  image  for  the 
latter  group  becomes  a  convenient  substitute  for  thing 
imagery.  It  carries  the  meaning.  So,  too,  of  all  sorts 
of  relationships  that  we  have  to  represent  to  ourselves 
in  thinking.  They  are  much  more  easily  thought  in 
the  form  of  word  images. 

The  individual  differences  in  mental  imagery  are 
found  in  connection  with  word  imagery  as  well  as  thing 
imagery.  Perhaps  the  majority  of  people  think  in 
terms  of  auditory-motor  word  imagery.  Others,  how- 
ever, have  visual  pictures  of  the  printed  or  written 
words.  Some  public  speakers,  for  example,  see  in  their 
mind's  eye  the  words  as  written  on  their  manuscripts. 

Number  forms.  —  Individual  differences  in  imagery 
are  well  illustrated  by  a  way  of  imaging  numbers  and 
the  alphabet,  the  days  of  the  month,  and  so  forth, 
which  is  peculiar  to  some  people.  The  most  common 
of  such  ways  of  imaging  are  those  known  as  number 
forms.  Those  persons  who  have  number  forms  think 
of  the  numbers  as  arranged  in  a  certain  spatial  order. 
Fig.  22  represents  one  of  these  forms.    The  individual 


MEMORY  AND  IMAGINATION 


121 


who  has  this  form  thinks  of  1  as  being  spatially  located 
in  the  direction  from  2  indicated  in  the  figure.  Each 
of  the  other  numbers  has  also  its  definite  place  in  the 
scheme. 

Some  of  these  individuals  think  of  the  numbers  or 
letters  of  the  alphabet  as  having  characteristic  colors. 
.  Such  imagery  is  probably  too  concrete  to 
be  as  useful  as  the  ordinary  types  of 
imagery,  where  the  vagueness  of  the  image 
helps  it  to  fit  many  similar  situations  and 
thus  make  it  more  easily  a  general  notion, 
that  is,  one  that  will  stand  for  many  situ- 
ations of  the  same  kind.  On  the  other 
hand,  those  who  have  such  imagery  fre- 
quently assert  that  it  is  most  useful  for 
certain  purposes,  such  as  keeping  engage- 
ments and  remembering  dates,  etc.  Num- 
ber forms  and  personifications  are  prob- 
ably more  common  in  younger  people  and 


3utT. 


Fig.  22.    Illustrations  of  visual  forms  of  days  in  the  week  and  of 
numbers. 

are  largely  outgrown  as  the  person  gets  to  be  more 
abstract  in  his  thinking. 


122  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

Imagination.  —  The  term  imagination  in  its  widest 
sense  is  the  image-making  faculty.  In  this  sense 
memory  images  are  particular  classes  of  the  process  of 
imagination,  viz.,  those  where  the  images  reproduce 
with  fidelity  a  former  experience.  In  so  far  as  images 
appear  in  consciousness  that  are  not  faithful  repro- 
ductions of  past  experiences,  they  may  be  described 
as  belonging  to  imagination  in  the  narrower  sense  of 
the  word.  Imagination  in  the  narrow  sense  comes 
close  to  the  popular  use  of  the  word  as  that  which  is 
purely  fanciful.  The  fanciful  or  unreal  character  of 
some  mental  images  arises  through  the  ability  to 
combine  in  consciousness  elements  that  have  been 
experienced  only  separately  in  perception.  Thus  the 
words  "the  cow  jumped  over  the  moon"  in  the  nursery 
rhyme  bring  up  imagery  that  is  purely  fanciful,  because 
they  combine  experiences  that  can  be  combined  only 
in  the  form  of  mental  imagery.  Even  such  imagery, 
which  is  contradictory  to  all  sensory  experience,  is, 
however,  frequently  of  value  because  of  the  enjoyment 
to  be  obtained  from  these  novel  combinations. 

Function  of  imagination.  —  The  ability  to  recon- 
struct and  recombine  in  thought  is,  however,  of  much 
greater  importance  than  that  of  mere  enjoyment. 
Imagination  finds  its  chief  function  in  those  cases  where 
it  is  possible  actually  to  modify  our  environment  so  as 
to  make  it  accord  with  our  mental  images,  as  in  inven- 
tions. Other  cases  of  a  similar  sort  are  those  where  one 
looks  ahead  to  certain  possible  situations,  by  forming 


MEMORY  AND  IMAGINATION  123 

images  of  that  which  is  likely  to  happen  and  makes 
preparation  for  the  future  in  this  way.  Take,  for  exam- 
ple, the  complicated  preparations  necessary  for  a  polar 
expedition,  which  are  possible  solely  because  of  the 
ability  to  imagine  what  is  likely  to  happen.  In  such 
forms  of  the  imagination  man  goes  much  beyond  the 
stage  of  mere  fanciful  imagination  useful  only  for  pur- 
poses of  enjoyment.  He  has  the  capacity  thereby  "to 
look  before  and  after" — "to  prepare  for  war  in  time 
of  peace."  As  far  as  we  can  tell,  the  lower  animals 
are  able  to  do  this  to  a  very  limited  extent,  most  of 
their  provisions  for  the  future  being  purely  instinctive. 

Furthermore,  many  of  the  most  important  scientific 
facts  can  never  be  directly  experienced  through  the 
senses.  They  must,  in  other  words,  be  imagined. 
Ether,  electricity,  gravity,  atoms,  etc.,  are  all  facts  that 
could  be  experienced  in  no  other  way.  Imagination 
helps  to  fill  in  the  gaps  of  our  sense  experience,  and 
thus  gives  a  truer  picture  of  reality  than  the  senses 
can  without  its  aid.  The  truth  of  the  picture  in  such 
cases  is  dependent  largely  on  wihether  these  products 
of  the  imagination  actually  correspond  with,  and  do 
not  contradict,  those  sense  experiences  on  which  they 
are  built. 

Development  of  imagination.  — This  last  statement 
gives  the  proper  clue  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
imagination.  It  is  known  to  everybody  who  has 
studied  children  that  they  revel  in  imaginary  experi- 
ences.    Two  extreme  views  have  been  held  with  regard 


124  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

to  the  wisdom  of  cultivating  this  tendency,  both  of 
these  views  being  the  result  of  psychological  miscon- 
ception. According  to  one  view,  since  imagination  is 
false  and  impractical  in  its  results,  the  child's  tendencies 
in  this  direction  should  be  restrained.  Fairy  stories 
and  myths  should  be  replaced  by  "what  is  true."  The 
other  view  holds  that,  since  imagination  is  natural  to 
the  child  and  since  it  is  a  useful  function,  it  should 
be  cultivated  as  much  as  possible,  and  one  should  be 
careful  not  to  break  into  the  fancies  of  childhood  by 
the  introduction  of  prosaic  reality. 

The  truth  that  follows  from  a  correct  analysis  of 
the  situation  has  been  foreshadowed  in  our  earlier 
treatment  of  this  subject.  Imagination  is  a  useful 
function  in  so  far  as  it  leads  to  useful  activities.  Not 
every  fancy,  therefore,  contributes  to  a  useful  end,  but 
only  those  that  may  be  made  to  conform  to  reality 
either  by  leading  to  actual  constructions  or  by  furnish- 
ing products  of  imagination  that  are  useful  because 
of  their  literary,  artistic  or  scientific  character.  It  is 
when  the  child  is  not  taught  to  distinguish  sharply 
between  the  truth  and  falsity  of  his  imaginations  that 
harm  arises  from  a  cultivation  of  the  imagination. 

Furthermore,  it  should  always  be  remembered  that 
imagination  is  dependent  for  its  content  on  sensory 
experience.  The  cultivation  of  imagination,  therefore, 
requires  rich  and  varied  experience  of  the  world  of 
external  objects  and  events.  Such  means  of  develop- 
ing those  forms  of  imagination  that  we  call  scientific 


MEMORY  AND  IMAGINATION  125 

and  practical  are  clearly  necessary.  But  the  following 
testimony  from  a  great  writer  of  fiction,  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  shows  its  necessity  in  cases  that  we  ordinarily 
regard  as  far  removed  from  sensory  experience.  While 
visiting  a  certain  Mr.  Morritt,  Scott  said  to  his  host: 
"You  have  given  me  materials  for  romance:  now  I 
want  a  good  robber's  cave,  and  an  old  church  of  the 
right  sort."  "We  rode  out,"  says  Mr.  Morritt,  "and 
he  found  what  he  wanted  in  the  ancient  slate  quarries 
of  Brignal  and  the  ruined  abbey  of  Eggleston.  I  ob- 
served him  noting  down  even  the  peculiar  little  wild 
flowers  and  herbs  that  accidentally  grew  around  and 
on  the  side  of  a  bold  crag  near  his  intended  cave  of 
Guy  Denzil;  and  could  not  help  saying  that,  as  he 
was  not  to  be  on  oath  in  his  work,  daisies,  violets  and 
primroses  would  be  as  poetical  as  any  of  the  humbler 
plants  he  was  examining.  I  laughed,  in  short,  at  his 
scrupulousness;  but  I  understood  him  when  he  replied 
that  in  Nature  herself  no  two  scenes  were  exactly  alike, 
and  that  whoever  copied  truly  what  was  before  his 
eyes  would  possess  the  same  variety  in  his  descriptions, 
and  exhibit  apparently  an  imagination  as  boundless  as 
the  range  of  nature  in  the  scenes  he  recorded ;  whereas 
whoever  trusted  to  [purely  fanciful]  imagination 
would  soon  find  his  own  mind  circumscribed  and  con- 
tracted to  a  few  favorite  images,  and  the  repetition  of 
these  would  sooner  or  later  produce  that  very  monotony 
and  barrenness  which  had  always  haunted  descriptive 


126  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

poetry  in  the  hands  of  any  but  the  patient  worshipers 
of  truth."  1 

References 

Angell,    J.    R.      Psychology.      Chapters   VIII,    IX. 

(Holt,  1910.) 
Judd,  C.  H.     Psychology.     Chapters  XI,  XII.     (Ginn 

&  Co.,  1917.) 
Meumann,  E.     Psychology  of  Learning.     Chapters  V, 

VI,  VII.     (Appleton,  1913.) 
Pillsbury,  W.  B.    Essentials  of  Psychology.    Chapter 

VIII.     (Macmillan,  1911.) 
Norsworthy  and  Whitly.     Psychology  of  Childhood. 

Chapters  VIII,  IX.     (Macmillan,  1918.) 

1  Quoted  by  Bolton,  Principles  of  Education. 


CHAPTER  VII 
CONCEPTION 

Conception.  —  The  relating  of  experiences  to  one 
another  is  of  the  very  essence  of  the  mental  life  and 
manifests  itself  from  the  beginning.  If  the  hypo- 
thetical first  moment  of  consciousness  is,  as  James 
believes,  "a  blooming,  buzzing  confusion" — merely 
a  vague  mass  of  sensations  bare  of  meanings — from 
that  moment  forward  such  masses  of  experience  begin 
to  be  broken  up  (analyzed)  and  the  parts  related 
to  one  another  (synthesized).  Insofar  as  these 
processes  have  to  do  with  sensory  experiences  exclu- 
sively, the  relating  activity  brings  about  the  develop- 
ment of  perception  of  objects  in  the  manner  described 
in  Chapter  V. 

But  along  with  the  relating  of  sensory  qualities  into 
the  forms  of  unity  and  space  there  is  going  on  another 
relating  process,  which  finds  its  chief  manifestation  in 
the  higher  processes  of  thought  and  is  their  indispen- 
sable foundation.  While  the  perception  of  an  object, 
in  so  far  as  the  perception  itself  is  concerned,  is  always 
the  experience  of  a  particular  object,  the  object  is 
usually  at  the  same  time  identified  and  placed  mentally 
as  belonging  to  a  class  of  objects.    The  table  at  which 

127 


128  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

we  are  looking,  for  example,  is  not  merely  this  perceived 
object.  It  is  included  mentally  in  a  whole  group  of 
objects,  some  of  them  quite  unlike  in  many  respects 
the  one  now  being  looked  at.  The  process  of  marking 
off  a  thing  in  thought,  of  identifying  it  or  classifying  it, 
is  conception. 

Abstract  ideas.  —  Concepts  that  refer  to  classes  of 
objects  are  sometimes  called  general  ideas.  Those  that 
refer  to  qualities  and  relationships  are  called  abstract 
ideas,  since  they  are  abstracted  or  separated  in  thought 
from  the  objects  to  which  they  belong.  The  quality 
of  whiteness,  for  example,  may  be  thought  of  as  a 
separate  quality  that  is  classed  with  the  similar  quality 
of  other  objects.  A  concept  may  refer  to  objects, 
qualities,  activities,  and  relationships  that  have  never 
been  and  by  the  very  nature  of  things  never  can  be 
experienced  perceptually,  such  as  God,  gravity,  atoms, 
electricity. 

Words  are  conceptual  signs.  —  It  is  evident  that  the 
process  of  conception  is  closely  bound  up  with  language. 
To  name  a  thing  is  to  identify  and  classify  it.  Further- 
more, it  is  much  easier  to  identify  and  classify  a  thing 
if  it  is  possible  to  name  it,  so  that  language  is  not 
merely  a  means  of  communicating  ideas  from  one  indi- 
vidual to  another,  but  it  is  an  aid  to  thinking.  The 
reason  for  this  appears  as  soon  as  we  make  an  analysis 
of  the  concept. 

Analysis  of  the  concept.  — If  we  attempt  to  discover 
just  what  mental  content  is  in  our  minds  when  we  use 


CONCEPTION  V29 

the  word  "table,"  it  will  be  found  that  individuals  differ 
greatly  from  one  another  and  that  the  same  individual 
may  have  an  entirely  different  content  at  different 
times.  Usually,  however,  some  kind  of  mental  image 
is  present.  This  image  may  be  either  visual  or  some 
other  preferred  form  of  image.  Perhaps  it  is  an  image 
of  a  particular  table  that  may  even  be  recognized,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  memory  image.  In  other  cases  the 
image  will  be  vague  and  fleeting  and  may  not  call  to 
mind  any  particular  object  of  the  class.  The  essential 
thing,  however,  in  all  these  cases  is  that  the  image 
carries  with  it  a  general  meaning;  it  represents  any 
object  of  the  class. 

By  far  the  most  common  form  of  image  present 
under  such  conditions  is  some  kind  of  word  imagery. 
The  meaning  is  conveyed  by  the  reproduction  in  the 
mind  of  the  visual  appearance  of  the  word  "table"  as 
printed  or  written;  or  the  sound  of  the  word  as  pro- 
nounced may  be  present  as  a  mental  image;  or  the 
image  of  the  muscular  contractions  used  in  pronouncing 
the  word  may  be  the  preferred  form;  or,  finally,  any 
of  these  forms  may  be  combined  with  others  or  with 
the  thing  imagery  mentioned  in  the  last  paragraph. 

Word  imagery  has  an  evident  advantage  over  thing 
imagery  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  general  mean- 
ings; for  an  image  of  an  object  is  always  an  image  of  a 
particular  object,  and  therefore  has  characteristics  that 
are  quite  different  from  many  of  the  other  objects  of 
the  class  represented.     In  the  case  of  the  word,  on 


130        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

the  other  hand,  the  general  meaning  attaches  itself  to 
the  image  more  readily  since  the  word  is,  of  course, 
in  no  sense  like  the  object  represented  by  it.  The  word 
image  is  also  a  great  aid  in  forming  concepts  of  objects 
and  relations  that  are  not  experienced  perceptually. 

Meaning  dependent  on  motor  reactions.  —  How  can 
any  image  that  in  itself  is  particular  mean — that  is, 
stand  for  or  symbolize — a  class  of  objects?  The 
answer  to  this  question  carries  us  back  to  the  perceptual 
experiences  that  are  the  foundation  for  concepts  as 
well  as  the  other  higher  processes  involving  mental 
imagery.  In  our  study  of  perception  we  found  that 
objects  when  perceived  bring  about  characteristic  motor 
responses.  Objects  of  a  similar  kind  are  reacted  to 
in  similar  ways.  Chairs,  whatever  their  shape  and 
size,  are  sat  on  or  to  be  sat  on.  Books  are  objects  to 
be  used  in  certain  ways,  tables  in  other  ways,  and 
pencils  in  still  others.  Our  world  of  objects  is  so  con- 
stituted that,  in  order  to  be  successful  in  our  dealings 
with  them,  it  is  necessary  to  act  in  a  common  way 
toward  those  that  belong  in  the  same  class. 

Obviously,  the  motor  activities  that  are  present  in 
perceiving  objects  are  not  always  such  externally  ob- 
servable actions  as  those  concerned  in  actually  manipu- 
lating them.  Ordinarily  the  motor  responses  end  in 
muscular  contractions  that  cannot  be  detected ;  but,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  sensory  impulses  always  issue 
into  motor  tracts,  and  the  entire  muscular  system  is, 
therefore,  in  a  continuous  state  of  changing  equilib- 


CONCEPTION  131 

rium.  Consider  the  thousands  of  distinctly  different 
motor  reactions  that  give  rise  to  vocal  speech,  which 
are  also  present  in  incipient  form  (inner  speech)  when 
the  word  is  merely  thought  of. 

Now,  not  only  does  the  percept  carry  with  it  a 
characteristic  motor  attitude,  but  the  revival  of  the 
perception  in  the  form  of  a  mental  image  is  also  accom- 
panied by  a  motor  attitude  of  a  similar  sort.  Hence 
the  meaning  of  the  mental  image  may  be  a  general 
meaning,  notwithstanding  the  particularity  of  the 
image  as  such,  because  the  meaning  is  the  attitude 
that  was  attached  originally  to  the  perceived  class  of 
objects.  Thus  the  image  is  merely  a  symbol  and  has 
a  general  meaning  because  it  is  associated  with  an 
attitude  connected  with  a  form  of  motor  reaction 
common  to  all  the  members  of  the  class  of  objects 
represented. 

Word  meanings.  —  What  is  true  of  other  forms  of 
mental  imagery  is  also  true  of  word  imagery,  which 
gradually  tends  to  become  the  typical  bearer  of  mean- 
ings for  most  people.  Language  is  a  conceptual  system 
in  which  the  separate  words  are  used  to  bear  the 
meanings  originally  attached  to  objects,  relations,  and 
events.  The  word,  being  a  pure  symbol  and  in  no 
sense  a  copy  of  the  object  represented,  is  peculiarly 
adapted  to  carry  with  it  the  general  meaning.  If  the 
word  "dog"  can  be  used  as  a  substitute  in  thought  for 
the  animal  itself,  it  is  because  the  word  carries  with 
it  something  of  the  same  kind  of  motor  response  as 


132  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

would  be  evoked  by  actual  sensory  experience  of  the 
dog. 

Because  of  the  infinite  number  of  possible  words, 
symbols  can  be  made  not  only  for  perceivable  objects 
represented  by  the  nouns  of  a  language,  but  of  relation- 
ships and  activities  that  are  symbolized  by  the  verbs, 
conjunctions,  and  prepositions.  Each  of  these  has  its 
general  meaning,  so  that  it  may  become  the  means 
of  communication  as  well  as  an  aid  to  thinking. 

Development  of  concepts.  —  What  has  already  been 
said  implies  that  our  ideas  or  concepts  are  gradually 
built  up  in  the  course  of  experience,  and  are  continually 
changing.  The  meaning  of  the  concept  changes  as 
experience  broadens.  Sometimes  the  meaning  nar- 
rows so  as  to  include  fewer  and  fewer  objects.  For 
example,  the  child  familiar  only  with  cats  will  at  first 
include  dogs  under  the  same  category,  but  his  further 
experience  teaches  him  to  differentiate  them.  Some- 
times the  meaning  becomes  more  and  more  inclusive. 
Contrast,  for  example,  the  astronomer's  concept  of 
"star"  with  the  child's  idea  of  the  same  object. 

Dangers  of  too  hasty  generalization.  —  Since  con- 
ception has  its  roots  in  perception,  it  becomes  obvious 
that  there  are  dangers  attendant  upon  too  hasty 
generalization.  No  adequate  concepts  can  be  formed, 
for  example,  of  scientific  facts  from  merely  learning 
words  descriptive  of  science.  The  meanings  of  words 
can  be  made  adequate  only  if  the  words  have  aroused 
the  appropriate  motor  reactions.    Now,  it  is  true,  as 


CONCEPTION  133 

we  have  seen,  that  concepts  of  a  most  valuable  sort 
may  be  formed  of  what  has  never  been  experienced 
through  the  senses  and  can  by  the  nature  of  things 
never  be  thus  experienced.  Indeed,  it  frequently  hap- 
pens that  our  conceptions  of  things  are  quite  opposed 
to  our  perceptions.  This  is  because  in  perception  we 
are  limited  to  certain  kinds  of  relationships,  like  those 
of  unity,  space,  and  time.  Perceptually,  the  sun  moves 
in  the  heavens  and  the  earth  stands  still,  yet  we  know 
that  the  reverse  is  true.  We  believe  that  the  sun 
stands  still  and  the  earth  revolves,  because,  in  the 
first  place,  we  have  much  other  evidence  that  the  mind 
may  be  deceived  by  merely  trusting  sense  impressions, 
and,  in  the  second  place,  the  hypothesis  of  earth  re- 
volving and  sun  standing  still  explains  a  number  of 
other  sensory  experiences,  like  those  of  day  and  night. 
Were  it  not  for  this  evidence  we  should  regard  the 
now  accepted  view  of  the  relationship  between  the  sun 
and  the  earth  as  the  sheerest  nonsense,  the  product  of 
as  idle  a  fancy  as  that  of  the  cow  jumping  over  the 
moon  in  the  nursery  rhyme.  While,  therefore,  the 
conceptual  process  continually  goes  beyond  the  data 
furnished  by  perception,  it  is  untrustworthy  unless  it 
can  be  made  to  square  with  the  facts  of  sensory 
experience.  Furthermore,  there  is  grave  danger  that 
the  meaning  will  be  vague  and  uncertain  if  the  concept 
is  formed  without  being  based  on  sensory  experiences. 
Words  are  mere  empty  symbols  if  the  necessary  sensory 


134  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

experiences  and  their  correlative  motor  reactions  have 
not  been  used  in  building  up  their  meanings. 

Concept  of  the  self.  — Among  the  concepts  that  play 
an  important  part  in  the  life  of  all  individuals  is  the 
concept  of  the  self.  Our  descriptions  of  consciousness 
up  to  this  point  have  been  piecemeal.  We  have 
examined  the  various  patterns  exhibited  by  conscious- 
ness from  moment  to  moment.  In  so  doing  we  have 
disregarded  to  a  large  extent,  for  the  time  being,  the 
unity  that  exists  between  one  moment  of  consciousness 
and  all  other  such  moments.  Throughout  the  chang- 
ing phases  of  consciousness  from  moment  to  moment, 
from  day  to  day,  and  from  year  to  year,  we  remain  the 
same  self.  Each  passing  phase  belongs  to  the  total 
stream  that  we  call  ourself  and  that  self,  notwithstand- 
ing the  changes,  remains  in  some  sense  the  same  self. 

Bodily  self.  —  This  concept  of  the  self,  like  other 
concepts,  changes  with  experience,  and  is  the  result 
of  gradual  processes  of  development.  The  young  child 
probably  has  no  concept  of  self  as  the  adult  knows  it. 
At  first  his  consciousness  is  all  of  the  type  frequently 
characteristic  of  adults  when  the  self  is  completely 
forgotten,  as,  for  example,  in  watching  a  burning 
building,  totally  absorbed  in  the  events  going  on  around 
one.  When  the  child  first  begins  to  think  of  himself 
as  a  self,  it  is  of  an  objective  or  bodily  self.  Of  all  the 
objects  that  are  perceived  by  the  child,  the  body  is  the 
one  most  intimately  connected  with  his  experience. 
Unlike  other  objects,  it  is  always  with  him.    He  cannot 


CONCEPTION  135 

escape  from  it.  Many  of  his  sensations,  such  as  pain, 
come  to  him  without  any  object  of  which  he  is  aware 
being  there  to  produce  them,  and  these  are  referred 
to  the  body.  When  he  touches  his  body  the  experience 
is  quite  different  from  that  of  touching  other  objects. 
He  therefore  begins  to  distinguish  between  the  body 
and  all  other  objects,  and  to  think  of  his  body  as  that 
peculiarly  intimate  thing,  himself. 

Spiritual  self.  —  As  time  goes  on,  even  the  body  is 
looked  upon  from  certain  points  of  view  as  an  object. 
Religious  teaching  and  the  ideas  of  older  people  in 
general  lead  the  child  to  differentiate  between  his  true 
self  (soul  or  spirit)  and  the  bodily  self.  Many  kinds 
of  experiences,  especially  those  connected  with  death 
and  reflection  upon  the  ultimate  destiny  of  human 
beings,  have  been  influential  in  making  this  concept 
of  a  spiritual  self  a  generally  accepted  one. 

Memory  and  the  self.  — The  most  influential  factor 
in  establishing  the  view  of  the  self  as  a  unitary  and 
persistent  entity,  notwithstanding  the  constant  changes 
of  consciousness,  is  that  of  memory.  I  am  the  same 
self  as  I  was  yesterday,  and  the  day  before,  and  the 
year  before,  because  I  can  at  the  present  moment  call 
to  mind  earlier  experiences  and  recognize  them. 
Under  certain  conditions  the  nervous  system  may  be- 
come so  disarranged  that  memory  of  past  events  is 
wiped  out.  If  this  loss  of  memory  is  not  merely  tem- 
porary the  person  becomes  virtually  a  different  self, 


136  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

and  we  have  the  phenomenon  of  double  or  multiple 
personality. 

Certain  experiences  of  the  individual  become  split 
off  from  the  main  personality  and  are  organized  so  as 
to  form  virtually  a  new  self.  Frequently  the  two 
personalities  alternate,  with  practically  no  memory 
links  between  the  two  phases  of  the  conscious  life. 
Sometimes  the  secondary  personality  lasts  for  years, 
with  no  memory  of  the  former  self  and  with  a  prac- 
tically complete  change  in  the  character  and  behavior 
of  the  individual. 

Hypnosis.  —  Less  striking,  because  more  temporary 
and  more  under  control,  are  the  phenomena  of  hypno- 
tism where  dissociation  enters,  causing  a  temporary 
forgetfulness  of  the  normal  waking  self  which  is  prac- 
tically complete.  The  experiences  undergone  during 
the  state  of  hypnosis  are  also  forgotten  when  the  hyp- 
notized person  is  in  his  normal  condition.  The  hyp- 
notized person  is  extremely  suggestible;  that  is,  an 
idea  that  comes  to  his  mind  is  immediately  acted  on. 
If  the  suggestion  is  made  during  hypnosis  that  the 
hypnotized  person  act  in  a  certain  way  after  the  ef- 
fects of  hypnosis  have  passed,  the  person  is  likely 
to  perform  the  action  even  though  the  circumstances 
in  which  the  suggestion  was  given  are  forgotten.  This 
has  been  made  the  basis  of  curative  treatment  for 
mental  disorders  and  bad  habits.  For  example,  the 
drunkard  is  hypnotized  and  given  the  suggestion  that 
in  the  future  drinking  will  sicken  him,  or  simply  that 


CONCEPTION  137 

he  must  not  drink.    The  effect  lasts  over  and  in  some 
cases  may  actually  be  the  cause  of  reform. 

Subconsciousness.  —  One  interesting  point  in  such 
cases  is  that  we  have  demonstrated  here  that  the  be- 
havior of  an  individual  may  be  due  to  forgotten  or 
unnoticed  experiences.  Not  all  of  man's  behavior  is, 
therefore,  related  to  the  surface  phenomena  of  con- 
sciousness, which  are  easily  open  to  introspection,  but 
many  causes  for  action  lie  below  the  surface.  As  James 
has  said  in  a  passage  quoted  earlier,  "Nothing  we  ever 
do  is  in  strict  scientific  literalness  ever  wiped  out." 
These  hidden  experiences  which  contribute  their  ef- 
fects in  all  our  behavior  are  sometimes  referred  to  as 
subconscious  processes. 

Voluntary  action.  —  The  suggestibility  of  the  hyp- 
notized person  throws  light  on  the  relation  between 
ideas  and  action.  Any  idea  that  comes  into  the  mind 
under  such  conditions  is  acted  upon.  The  results  may 
be  absurd  and  contrary  to  the  person's  usual  mode  of 
behavior,  but  the  hypnotic  effect  is  such  that  each  idea 
that  comes  to  the  mind  has  a  clear  track  and  issues  in 
some  corresponding  action.  Under  normal  conditions 
the  idea  works  itself  out  in  action  in  the  same  way  to 
the  degree  to  which  it  is  the  exclusive  object  of  atten- 
tion. But  usually  more  than  one  idea  is  present  in 
consciousness  at  the  same  moment,  each  striving,  so 
to  speak,  to  bring  about  its  appropriate  action.  Ac- 
tion is  thus  delayed  by  the  presence  of  competing  ideas, 


138  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

and  what  we  call  deliberation,  reflection  and  choice 
ensues. 

References 

Angell,  J.  R.    Psychology.    Chapter  X.    (Holt,  1910.) 
Bagley,  W.  C.    Educative  Process.    Chapters  IX,  X, 

XI.     (Maemillan,  1906.) 
Dewey,  J.    How  We  Think.    Chapter  IX.     (Heath, 

1911.) 
Judd,  C.  H.     Psychology.    Chapters  XI,  XII,  XV. 

(Ginn,  1917.) 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THINKING 

Various  uses  of  the  term.  —  The  words  "thinking" 
and  "thought"  refer  in  every-day  speech  to  those  con- 
scious processes  that  are  not  of  direct  sensory  origin. 
Sometimes  they  are  primarily  memory  processes,  as 
when  a  person  says,  "I  am  thinking  of  my  old  home." 
Sometimes  thoughts  are  more  of  the  nature  of  im- 
agination, as  when  it  is  said,  "I  am  thinking  of  the 
good  time  I  expect  to  have  on  my  vacation."  Some- 
times, however,  thinking  refers  to  the  process  of  ar- 
riving at  conclusions  or  beliefs,  as  when  we  think  out 
a  problem  or  think  what  ought  to  be  done  when  dif- 
ficulties present  themselves.  All  of  these  cases  of 
thinking  are  similar  in  that  they  consist  of  a  chain  or 
series  of  ideas  rather  than  direct  perceptions,  and  in 
each  case  the  series  of  ideas  centers  about  a  common 
purpose  or  theme.  But  those  instances  of  thinking  of 
the  type  where  problems  are  solved  are  of  sufficient 
importance  to  demand  special  treatment.  They  are 
instances  of  rational  or  reflective  thinking. 

One  function  of  the  school  is  to  train  the  child  to 
think.  —  While  man  has  been  called  the  rational  ani- 
mal, thinking  of  the  reflective  type  is  relatively  un- 

139 


140  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

common  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.  Our 
instinctive  and  habitual  ways  of  acting  are  usually 
sufficient  for  dealing  with  the  situations  that  present 
themselves  from  moment  to  moment.  Occasionally, 
however,  our  usual  modes  of  response  are  inadequate, 
and  difficulties  arise.  Under  such  circumstances  think- 
ing takes  place,  and  direct  action  is  delayed  until  the 
thinking  is  completed.  One  of  the  chief  functions  of 
the  school  is  to  create  situations  that  demand  think- 
ing of  the  reflective  type.  In  every-day  life  such  situa- 
tions are  not  only  infrequent,  but  when  they  do  occur 
they  are  usually  of  a  more  or  less  trivial  character. 
In  the  schools,  on  the  other  hand,  the  pupil  is  con- 
tinually confronting  problems  to  be  solved,  and,  arti- 
ficial and  formal  as  they  often  are,  they  are  the  chief 
means  we  have  of  training  the  thinking  capacity  in 
the  young. 

An  illustration  of  thinking  in  practical  affairs. — 
Some  illustrations  may  serve  to  make  clearer  the  na- 
ture of  reflective  thought.  Let  us  take,  first,  an  ex- 
ample typical  of  those  that  occur  in  the  ordinary- 
affairs  of  life.  I  have  made  an  engagement  which 
requires  that  I  shall  be  in  the  town  of  X,  thirty  miles 
away  from  my  home,  at  4:30  P.  M.  of  a  certain  day. 
It  is  necessary  to  determine  how  to  get  there.  On 
looking  up  the  railroad  connections,  I  find  that  there 
are  only  two  trains  that  go  to  X  from  my  home,  and 
neither  of  these  trains  is  convenient  because  one  is 
too  early  for  my  engagement  and  the  other  too  late; 


THINKING  141 

furthermore,  there  is  no  train  that  will  bring  me  back 
that  evening.  I  remember  that  X  has  railroad  con- 
nections also  with  Y  by  a  different  line,  and  that  Y 
can  be  readily  reached  by  trolley ;  but  on  looking  up  the 
time-table  I  find  that  the  trains  are  quite  as  incon- 
veniently arranged  as  by  the  first  route.  Another  pos- 
sibility is  that  of  going  by  trolley  all  the  way.  This 
I  dislike  to  do  because  of  the  time  consumed,  the  lack 
of  ventilation  of  cars  likely  to  be  crowded,  etc.  I 
might  take  a  taxicab,  but  the  expense  is  against  this 
plan.  It  occurs  to  me  that  my  friend  A,  who  has  an 
automobile,  has  relatives  in  X  whom  he  occasionally 
visits.  Perhaps  he  is  contemplating  such  a  visit  and 
may  be  induced  to  make  his  visit  coincide  with  my 
plans.  A  readily  consents  to  this  plan,  and  I  am  thus 
enabled  to  meet  my  engagement  and  return  the  same 
evening  in  a  comfortable  manner  and  without  ex- 
pense. 

Dewey's  illustration  of  reflection  involving  experi- 
ment. —  Another  illustration,  given  by  Dewey,  is  more 
typical  of  those  with  which  the  teacher  tries  to  con- 
front the  pupil  in  his  school  work.  In  this  case  the 
problem  would  not  be  likely  to  occur  spontaneously  in 
the  mind  of  a  person  not  intellectually  alert  or  trained 
in  scientific  methods  of  thinking. 

In  washing  tumblers  in  hot  soapsuds  and  placing 
them  mouth  downward  on  a  plate,  bubbles  appeared  on 
the  outside  of  the  mouth  of  the  tumblers  and  then 
went  inside.     Why?     The  presence  of  bubbles  sug- 


142  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

gests  air,  which  I  note  must  come  from  inside  the 
tumbler.  I  see  that  the  soapy  water  on  the  plate  pre- 
vents escape  of  the  air  save  as  it  may  be  caught  in 
bubbles.  But  why  should  air  leave  the  tumbler?  There 
was  no  substance  entering  to  force  it  out.  It  must 
have  expanded.  It  expands  by  increase  of  heat  or  by 
decrease  of  pressure,  or  by  both.  Could  the  air  have 
become  heated  after  the  tumbler  was  taken  from  the 
hot  suds?  Clearly  not  the  air  that  was  already  en- 
tangled in  the  water.  If  heated  air  was  the  cause,  cold 
air  must  have  entered  in  transferring  the  tumblers 
from  the  suds  to  the  plate.  I  test  to  see  if  this  suppo- 
sition is  true  by  taking  several  more  tumblers  out. 
Some  I  shake  so  as  to  make  sure  of  entrapping  cold 
air  in  them.  Some  I  take  out  holding  mouth  down- 
ward in  order  to  prevent  cold  air  from  entering.  Bub- 
bles appear  on  the  outside  of  every  one  of  the  former 
and  on  none  of  the  latter.  I  must  be  right  in  my  in- 
ference. Air  from  the  outside  must  have  been  ex- 
panded by  the  heat  of  the  tumbler,  which  explains 
the  appearance  of  the  bubbles  on  the  outside. 

But  why  do  they  then  go  inside?  Cold  contracts. 
The  tumbler  cooled  and  also  the  air  inside  it.  Ten- 
sion was  removed,  and  hence  the  bubbles  appeared 
inside.  To  be  sure  of  this,  I  test  by  placing  a  cup  of 
ice  on  the  tumbler  while  the  bubbles  are  still  forming 
outside.      They  soon  reverse. 

The  five  steps  in  the  thinking  process.  —  An  analy- 
sis of  the  above  illustrations  and  all  similar  cases  of 
reflective  thinking  shows  that  there  are  five  steps,  more 
or  less  distinct,  though  often  merging  into  one  an- 
other, in  the  course  of  the  solution  of  such  problems. 


THINKING  143 

These  are  (1)  a  perplexing  situation,  which  causes  a 
feeling  of  difficulty;  (2)  noting  clearly  the  source  and 
nature  of  the  difficulty;  (3)  forming  various  ideas 
which  may  possibly  solve  the  difficulty ;  (4)  considering 
what  the  results  would  be  if  these  various  ideas  were 
accepted;  (5)  further  observation  and  (sometimes) 
experiment  leading  to  the  acceptance  of  one  of  the 
ideas  and  the  rejection  of  the  others. 

Training  the  child  to  look  for  problems.  —  In  the 
first  of  our  two  illustrations  the  felt  difficulty  is  forced 
upon  the  thinker  because  of  the  practical  necessities 
of  his  daily  life.  In  the  second  there  is  no  such  prac- 
tical motive  for  further  inquiry:  the  occupation  of 
dish-washing  could  proceed  successfully  without 
further  ado.  But  to  the  active,  trained  mind  every 
experience  not  understood  is  a  challenge  to  thought. 
This  attitude  of  active  inquiry,  having  its  roots  in  in- 
stinctive curiosity,  may  be  either  fostered  or  stifled 
by  the  atmosphere  of  the  school.  Among  the  more 
purely  intellectual  attitudes  to  be  cultivated,  there  is 
probably  none  so  important  as  that  which  leads  to 
reflective  thinking.  Indeed,  the  attitude  that  leads  to 
doubt,  inquiry,  and  independent  thinking  has  some- 
thing in  it  of  moral  quality  as  well  as  intellectual. 
He  who  comes  to  his  beliefs,  opinions,  and  knowledge 
simply  on  the  authority  of  others  can  scarcely  be  said 
to  be  honest. 

Importance  of  suspended  judgment  in  thinking.  — 
The  second  step  in  the  thinking  process  is  not  always 


144  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

clearly  defined.  Frequently  the  first  and  second  steps 
merge  into  each  other,  as  in  the  first  example  given 
above,  where  the  nature  and  source  of  the  difficulty 
are  evident  from  the  outset.  In  many  cases,  however, 
it  forms  an  important  part  of  the  necessary  procedure. 
The  difficulty  with  the  solution  of  the  problem  fre- 
quently arises  from  not  observing  the  facts  that  are 
present  carefully  enough.  Thus,  if  an  automobile 
engine  stops  running,  all  the  occupants  of  the  car  are 
aware  that  there  is  a  difficulty;  but  only  those  who  are 
used  to  observing  the  way  in  which  automobile  en- 
gines usually  run  will  have  any  clear  indication  of  the 
source  of  the  difficulty.  The  driver  is  likely  to  have 
observed  certain  indications  of  the  difficulty,  such  as 
unusual  sounds  or  vibrations,  before  the  engine 
stopped,  and  such  indications  frequently  show  just 
where  to  look  for  the  seat  of  the  trouble  instead 
of  a  blind  process  of  guessing.  As  Dewey  puts  it: 
"The  essence  of  critical  thinking  is  suspended  judg- 
ment; and  the  essence  of  this  suspense  is  inquiry  to 
determine  the  nature  of  the  problem  before  proceeding 
to  attempts  at  its  solution." 

Importance  of  imagination  in  thinking.  —  The  mind 
gets  to  close  grip  with  its  problem  when  suggestions 
of  the  possible  solution  of  the  difficulty  begin  to  form. 
Clearly,  the  capacity  most  involved  at  this  point  is 
imagination.  The  mind  makes  a  leap,  so  to  speak, 
from  what  is  actually  perceived  to  ideas  that  will  serve 
to  explain  the  observed  circumstances.    The  kind  of 


THINKING  145 

imagination  needed  here  is,  of  course,  not  imagination 
in  the  popular  sense  of  pure  fancy,  but  in  the  form  of 
ideas  that  are  guided  and  controlled  by  the  facts  but 
that  nevertheless  go  beyond  them.  It  has  already  been 
pointed  out  that  imagination  of  this  profitable  sort 
cannot  be  developed  by  fairy  stories  and  the  make- 
believes  so  zealously  recommended  by  some  parents 
and  teachers.  Abundance  of  sensory  experience  of  the 
right  sort,  and  continued  application  of  such  experi- 
ence in  the  formation  of  concepts  that  are  embodied 
in  laws,  rules,  and  principles,  is  necessary.  Doubtless, 
fertility  of  suggestion  is  much  dependent  on  a  person's 
innate  ability,  and  is  the  mark  of  originality;  but  even 
the  person  of  common-place  mind  may  think  out  the 
greater  part  of  his  problems  successfully  if  he  has  the 
necessary  background  of  experience  and  training.  Con- 
tinued application  of  such  experience  in  the  formation 
of  concepts  that  go  beyond  the  present  in  time  and 
space  and  casual  relationships  are  necessary. 

The  fourth  and  fifth  steps  in  reflective  thinking.  ■ — 
The  next  step  is  that  of  determining  what  would  be  the 
necessary  implications  of  the  various  ideas  suggested. 
If  such  or  such  suggested  solution  of  the  problem  is 
accepted,  what  consequences  follow?  The  fifth  step 
consists  in  determining  whether  the  conditions  found 
to  be  required  by  the  fourth  are  actually  present.  If 
so  the  hypothesis  is  regarded  as  correct.  If  not  it  is 
rejected.  Frequently  it  happens  that  new  facts  are 
noted  which  had  hitherto  been  overlooked,  tending  to 


146  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

confirm  the  probability  or  improbability  of  the  sug- 
gested hypothesis.  Frequently,  too,  the  suggestion 
itself  is  modified  so  as  to  make  it  conform  to  all  of  the 
facts  observed  to  be  present.  The  process  of  verifica- 
tion thus  set  up  often  leads  to  experiment  where  the 
conditions  thought  to  be  vital  to  the  phenomenon  are 
rigidly  arranged  and  the  consequences  carefully  noted. 
Here  we  get  the  highest  type  of  scientific  verification. 

Induction  and  deduction.  —  The  third  and  fourth 
steps  mentioned  above  are  the  very  heart  of  the  think- 
ing process,  and  taken  together  constitute  the  process 
of  reasoning.  The  third  step  is  of  the  nature  of  in- 
ductive reasoning.  Induction  is  the  process  of  pass- 
ing from  particular  facts  to  a  general  idea  that  com- 
prehends all  of  the  facts.  The  results  of  the  inductive 
process  give  us  concepts,  rules,  principles,  hypotheses, 
and  laws.  The  value  of  such  general  principles  is  that 
they  furnish  a  single  comprehensive  way  of  thinking 
about  things  and  events  that  would  otherwise  be  en- 
tirely isolated  from  one  another.  They  give  to  us  a 
way  of  thinking  that  can  be  used  in  any  situation  to 
which  they  are  applicable,  and  when  we  have  such 
comprehensive  views  of  particular  facts  we  say  we  un- 
derstand them — can  explain  them;  for  by  means  of 
them  they  are  all  connected  with  one  another  in  their 
proper  relationships. 

The  fourth  step  constitutes  the  process  of  so-called 
deductive  reasoning.    When  we  apply  a  general  prin- 


THINKING  147 

ciple,  law,  or  idea  to  a  particular  case  falling  under  it, 
we  are  said  to  proceed  deductively. 

Thinking  consists  of  associated  trains  of  ideas. — 
Obviously  the  mental  processes  involved  in  thinking 
are  concepts  or  ideas.  One  idea  is  followed  by  another, 
the  whole  constituting  a  series  of  associated  ideas — 
all  proceeding  toward  a  certain  goal,  namely,  the  solv- 
ing of  the  problem.  Thinking  may  go  wrong  either 
because  false  ideas  have  been  taken  for  granted  or 
because  these  ideas  have  been  put  together  in  wrong 
ways.  Logic  examines  the  proper  procedure  for  cor- 
rect thinking,  and  constructs  rules  to  guide  the  proc- 
ess. The  ideas  that  are  taken  for  granted  are  called 
the  premises,  and  the  outcome  of  the  thinking  the 
conclusion.  Logic  gives  us  rules  for  both  the  inductive 
and  the  deductive  phases  of  thinking. 

Inductive  vs.  deductive  methods  of  teaching.  — 
Inductive  and  deductive  methods  of  thinking  have 
often  been  set  over  against  each  other  as  different 
methods  of  approach  in  teaching  various  subjects  of 
study.  Whenever  we  begin  instruction  by  setting  up 
general  principles,  rules,  and  definitions,  and  proceed 
to  make  these  principles,  rules,  and  definitions  apply  to 
particular  instances,  we  are  proceeding  deductively. 
Whenever  we  take  the  reverse  course  of  proceeding 
from  particular  instances  to  build  up  rules  and  defini- 
tions, we  proceed  inductively.  Complete  thinking,  as 
we  have  seen,  includes  both  the  inductive  and  the  de- 


148  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

ductive  processes ;  but  considerable  differences  in  meth- 
ods of  instruction  frequently  appear,  according  as  we 
emphasize  the  one  or  the  other  method  of  approach. 
One  might  take  as  an  example  the  general  principle 
that  metals  are  good  conductors  of  electricity.  A  lesson 
in  electricity  that  began  with  a  statement  of  this  prin- 
ciple and  then  proceeded  to  illustrate  the  rule  with 
reference  to  various  kinds  of  metals  would  be  based  on 
a  deductive  method  of  treatment.  The  inductive 
method  of  approach,  on  the  other  hand,  would  begin 
by  the  demonstration  of  the  facts  of  conduction  in  the 
case  of  as  many  metals  as  could  be  conveniently  tried 
out.  It  would  begin  with  the  concrete  facts  and  build 
up  the  general  principle  from  a  consideration  of  the 
individual  cases.  This  method  has  the  advantage  of 
carrying  the  student  from  what  he  already  knows  to 
what  is  unknown.  The  general  principle,  therefore, 
when  arrived  at  has  a  fullness  of  meaning  for  him  which 
would  not  be  present  where  the  statement  of  the  prin- 
ciple is  given  without  the  background  of  concrete  ex- 
perience from  which  it  has  been  derived.  The  order  of 
discovery  of  general  principles  is  by  the  inductive 
method,  and  this  method  of  teaching  implies  that  each 
student  should  make  the  discovery  for  himself.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  we  begin  deductively,  the  acceptance 
of  the  general  principle  on  the  part  of  the  student  must 
be  made  on  the  basis  of  the  authority  of  the  author  of 
the  text-book  or  the  teacher. 


THINKING  149 

Doubtless  there  are  times  when  it  is  advisable  to 
teach  rules  and  principles  from  the  outset,  either  be- 
cause of  the  inability  of  the  student  to  make  the  neces- 
sary induction,  or  because  of  the  impossibility  of  se- 
curing the  concrete  evidence,  or  because  this  method 
will  lead  to  more  immediate  results  in  the  application 
of  the  principle;  but  in  general  the  inductive  method 
of  approach  is  the  more  suited  to  the  student's  com- 
prehension and  leads  to  more  valuable  habits  of  think- 
ing. 

Study  in  relation  to  thinking.  —  Much  of  what  we 
call  study  in  the  schools  properly  implies  that  the  pupil 
is  or  should  be  engaged  in  the  process  of  reflective 
thinking.  Usually,  however,  the  facts,  the  problems, 
and  the  solutions  are  all  presented  to  the  pupil  by  the 
teacher  or  text-book.  The  student  is  simply  required 
to  think  over  again  for  himself  the  results  of  the 
thinking  of  others.  If  this  is  actually  done  by  the  pupil 
great  gain  results,  but  pupils  often  fail  to  realize  that 
study  is  anything  more  than  the  mere  memorizing  of 
facts,  problems,  and  solutions.  Since  the  problem  has 
not  arisen  out  of  his  own  experience,  he  neither  rec- 
ognizes the  problems  nor  takes  the  steps  for  their  solu- 
tion, except  in  a  mechanical  way.  In  the  recitation 
and  the  assignment  of  lessons,  therefore,  one  of  the 
teacher's  chief  functions  is  to  stimulate  the  pupils  to 
take  the  problem-solving  attitude  toward  the  material 
of  the  lesson. 


150  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

References 

Dewey,  J.    How  We  Think.    (Heath,  1911.) 
Freeman,  F.  N.    How  Children  Learn.    Chapter  XI. 

(Houghton  Mifflin,  1917.) 
James,     William.       Psychology     (Briefer     Course). 

Chapter  XXII.     (Holt,   1919.) 
Pillsbury,  W.  B.    Essentials  of  Psychology.    Chapter 

IX.     (MacmiUan,  1911.) 


CHAPTER  IX 
LANGUAGE 

Language  derives  its  usefulness  from  indirect  re- 
sults. —  The  great  importance  of  language  for  human 
society  and  its  intimate  relationship  to  thinking  make 
it  desirable  that  its  nature  be  considered  in  some  de- 
tail. When  considered  apart  from  the  meanings  that 
words  convey,  language  is  simply  a  form  of  behavior. 
Oral  speech  consists  of  a  series  of  contractions  of  the 
vocal  muscles,  just  as  movements  of  the  arms  or  legs 
result  from  contraction  of  the  appropriate  muscles. 
Written  language,  from  the  same  point  of  view,  is 
merely  the  result  of  muscular  contractions  of  the  hand 
and  arm. 

But  the  true  significance  of  language  does  not  arise 
from  the  direct  results  of  these  actions.  If  the  arm 
is  stretched  out  to  pick  up  a  book,  the  muscular  action 
is  directly  useful.  In  the  case  of  language,  however, 
the  importance  of  the  muscular  action  comes  from  its 
indirect  results.  Action  of  the  muscles  in  speech  does 
nothing  by  way  of  affecting  objects.  Why,  then,  does 
this  particular  form  of  action  become  so  important? 

Animal  language.  —  It  will  aid  us  in  answering  this 
question  if  we  attempt  to  discover  something  of  the 

151 


152  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

origin  of  language  and  its  manner  of  development.  It 
is  well  known  that  some  of  the  lower  animals  have 
means  of  communication  with  one  another  that  may  be 
regarded  as  forming  a  sort  of  language.  Dogs  give 
information  to  one  another  in  a  limited  degree  by 
means  of  their  barking;  deer  give  warning  to  their  fel- 
lows by  a  toss  of  the  head,  and  many  other  species 
of  animals  have  their  characteristic  signs — in  most 
instances,  however,  limited  to  signals  of  danger. 

Such  language  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  of  the 
same  nature  as  human  language,  although  it  does  bring 
about  similar  results.  It  is  probable  that  in  most  cases 
of  animal  behavior  in  response  to  signals  of  this  sort 
the  action  is  purely  instinctive.  Chicks  hatched  in 
an  incubator,  for  example,  will  respond  in  the  usual 
way  shortly  after  birth  to  an  imitation  of  the  hen's 
danger  call.  Certainly  it  is  true  that  the  information 
conveyed  from  one  member  of  a  species  to  another  is 
very  limited.  When  the  danger  call  comes,  the  animal 
simply  acts  in  the  way  that  is  characteristic  of  that 
species  when  danger  is  present,  without  having  any 
definite  information  of  the  nature  and  source  of  the 
danger. 

Human  language  began  with  natural  signs.  —  The 
study  of  language  shows  that  it  has  been  the  result 
of  a  gradual  process  of  development  from  simple  be- 
ginnings. Various  theories  have  arisen  to  account  for 
its  origin,  but  all  agree  that,  originally,  spoken  words  in 
some  way  directly  indicated  what  was  intended  to  be 


LANGUAGE  153 

communicated  by  means  of  the  sounds.  For  example, 
while  the  word  "cat,"  to  one  who  has  not  associated 
it  with  the  animal,  would  have  no  significance,  imitat- 
ing the  mew  of  the  cat  would  immediately  suggest  the 
animal  to  any  one  who  had  any  acquaintance  with 
cats.  While  the  word  "joy"  would  have  no  special  sig- 
nificance to  any  one  not  knowing  the  English  language, 
the  cry  of  joy  would  be  recognized  by  everybody.  It 
seems  probable  also  that  originally  many  objects  and 
situations  instinctively  evoked  characteristic  sounds 
among  primitive  peoples.  The  mere  utterance  of  these 
sounds  would,  therefore,  serve  to  suggest  the  objects  or 
situations  to  the  hearer.  All  such  instances  of  primi- 
tive means  of  communication  are  illustrations  of  the 
use  of  natural  signs  to  convey  meanings,  and  are  closely 
related  to  animal  language  in  being  an  outgrowth  of 
emotional  reactions  in  the  presence  of  exciting  situa- 
tions. 

Gesture  language.  —  In  the  early  stages  of  language 
development  gestures  undoubtedly  supplemented 
sounds  to  a  greater  extent  than  in  the  more  developed 
languages  of  to-day.  The  gesture  is,  at  first,  also  a 
natural  sign  of  the  object  or  act  signified.  Pointing 
to  an  object  to  which  attention  is  to  be  drawn,  or 
drawing  in  the  air  an  outline  of  its  shape,  or  imitating 
an  action  helps  to  communicate  to  an  observer  the 
meaning  that  it  is  desired  to  convey. 

Conventional  signs.  —  Further  development  of  lan- 
guage takes  place  through  the  gradual  passing  over 


154  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

of  these  natural  signs  into  conventional  signs,  and  the 
multiplication  of  conventional  signs  in  a  more  or  less 
arbitrary  or  accidental  manner.  As  soon  as  this  stage 
is  reached,  there  is  virtually  no  limit  to  the  number 
of  oral  or  gesture  signs  that  may  be  used,  for  the  mean- 
ing is  now  conveyed,  not  by  any  likeness  of  the  sign 
to  the  thing  signified,  but  as  a  result  of  common  usage 
and  agreement  among  the  members  of  a  community. 
The  conventional  meaning  is,  of  course,  not  a  result 
of  any  conscious  agreement,  but  grows  up  gradually 
in  the  manner  of  other  customs. 

Sign  language  of  deaf-mutes.  —  The  sign  language 
of  deaf-mutes  furnishes  an  excellent  example  of  the 
way  in  which  natural  signs  pass  over  into  conventional 
signs.  Deaf-mutes  who  are  untrained  in  alphabetic 
sign  language  fall  back  on  the  use  of  natural  signs. 
These  signs  are  so  directly  indicative  of  their  mean- 
ing that  deaf-mutes  of  different  nationalities  can  un- 
derstand one  another  on  meeting  for  the  first  time. 
Furthermore,  these  gestures  are  very  similar  to  those 
in  use  by  primitive  peoples,  who,  although  they  have 
a  spoken  language,  use  a  great  many  gestures.  Wundt 
is  authority  for  the  statement  that  "gestures  that  refer 
to  specific  concrete  objects  are  frequently  so  similar 
that  many  of  the  signs  employed  by  the  gesture  lan- 
guage of  the  deaf-mutes  of  Europe  may  be  found  among 
the  Dakota  Indians." 

The  following  description  shows  two  methods  em- 
ployed by  deaf-mutes  to  express  the  fact  that  two  ob- 


LANGUAGE  155 

jects  are  different.  The  important  point  about  these 
descriptions  is  that  the  first  method  is  more  of  the 
character  of  a  natural  sign,  while  the  second  illustrates 
signs  at  a  more  conventional  level.  The  more  primi- 
tive method  is:  "The  deaf-mute  endeavors  to  place 
the  two  interesting  objects  side  by  side,  and  leads  his 
interlocutor  up  to  them;  touching  the  objects  one  after 
the  other,  he  makes  a  sign  of  emphatic  denial"  (shake 
the  head)  "if  A  differs  from  B. 

"A  more  conventional  form  of  gesture  for  expressing 
differences  is  as  follows:  Place  both  forefingers  side 
by  side,  the  other  fingers  being  closed  and  the  backs 
of  the  hands  turned  upwards,  then  move  the  hands 
away  from  each  other,  the  forefingers  pointing  in  oppo- 
site directions.  The  degree  of  difference  is  expressed 
by  the  rapidity  and  extent  of  the  movement.  A  rapid 
and  full  sweep  of  the  two  fingers  until  the  arms  are 
extended  at  full  length,  if  accompanied  by  an  earnest 
gaze,  means  Vide  as  the  poles  asunder.'  A  slow,  hes- 
itating movement,  with  a  look  of  uncertainty,  indicates 
a  small  difference,  only  just  noticeable,  of  no  special 
interest." 

The  simplification  of  natural  signs.  —  As  soon  as  the 
principle  of  using  symbols,  oral  or  gesture,  which  were 
not  like  the  things  symbolized  became  firmly  estab- 
lished, there  was  virtually  no  limit  to  the  degree  to 
which  oral  and  other  signs  might  be  used.  Natural 
signs  were  changed,  in  the  interests  of  simplification 
and  ready  use,  into  conventional  signs.     Because  of 


156  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

the  wide  range  of  possible  speech  forms  and  the  fact 
that  the  vocal  muscles  are  not,  like  the  hands,  used 
for  other  purposes,  oral  language  took  precedence  over 
gesture  language.  When  languages  become  thus  freed 
from  the  necessity  of  making  their  symbols  like  the 
things  symbolized,  they  become  not  only  a  medium 
of  expression  but  a  means  of  thought  as  well. 

Obviously  it  is  difficult  to  find  natural  signs  for  any- 
thing except  the  simplest  objects  and  occurrences. 
Natural  signs  are  suitable  for  expressing  only  a  limited 
range  of  the  more  concrete  happenings  of  the  external 
world.  Abstract  ideas  are  either  very  difficult  or  im- 
possible of  expression  in  this  way.  The  deaf-mute 
takes  a  long  time  and  much  effort  to  express  so  simple 
an  abstract  idea  as  that  conveyed  by  the  one  word 
"different."  If  it  were  necessary  for  him  to  express  the 
kind  of  difference,  it  would  become  still  more  difficult. 
The  more  abstract  the  meaning  to  be  conveyed,  the 
more  difficult  it  is  without  recourse  to  conventional 
language. 

Language  not  a  definite  instinct.  —  The  child,  in 
learning  to  speak,  roughly  parallels  the  development 
of  racial  language  just  outlined.  It  is  a  debatable  point 
whether  the  child  has  any  instinct  of  speech.  Cer- 
tainly if  there  is  such  an  instinct  it  must  be  very  in- 
definite, for  a  child  of  any  race  will  learn  the  language 
of  any  other  if  it  is  the  only  one  he  hears,  and  he  will 
do  this  as  readily  as  if  it  were  the  language  of  his 
parents. 


LANGUAGE  157 

Early  steps  in  speech  development.  —  The  first 
sounds  made  by  the  child  are  of  the  nature  of  emo- 
tional expressions,  such  as  the  cry  of  pain.  Soon,  how- 
ever, he  begins  to  exercise  his  vocal  apparatus  in  "coo- 
ing" and  "gurgling."  In  this  babbling  period  there  arise 
a  variety  of  sounds  that  are  made  spontaneously  and 
with  no  thought  of  communication.  Nevertheless,  by 
modification  of  these  the  first  words  are  learned,  and 
they  therefore  form  the  instinctive  roots  of  speech. 
Thus,  among  the  babbling  sounds  produced  are  such 
reduplications  as  ma  ma  and  da  da,  which  the  child 
learns  to  modify  into  "mama"  and  "daddy"  under  the 
influence  of  repetition  of  these  sounds  by  adults. 
Gradually  such  sounds  are  given  the  conventional 
meanings  because  they  are  associated  so  frequently 
with  the  appropriate  situation,  object,  or  person. 

Imitative  stage.  — Starting  with  these  fundamental 
spontaneous  sounds  as  a  basis,  the  child  soon  enters 
on  an  imitative  stage  of  development  of  speech.  At 
first  the  child  imitates  the  words  of  others  very  imper- 
fectly and  largely  for  the  pleasure  derived  from  the 
exercise  of  his  vocal  functions  rather  than  for  language 
purposes.  He  soon,  however,  begins  to  attach  mean- 
ings to  spoken  words  uttered  by  himself  and  others. 
This  is  the  inevitable  outcome  of  the  fact  that  his  most 
vivid  and  interesting  experiences  are  almost  always 
accompanied  by  spoken  words.  Those  words  are  un- 
derstood most  readily  whose  meanings  are  akin  to  the 
emotional  expressions.     At  this  stage  the  child's  at- 


158        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

tempts  at  oral  language  are  supplemented  by  gestures, 
especially  by  pointing. 

The  great  majority  of  the  early  words  acquired  are 
nouns,  and  when  first  used  these  words  are  generally 
made  to  do  duty  for  entire  sentences.  For  example, 
"Milk"  ("Give  me  some  milk"),  "Down"  ("I  want  to 
get  down").  The  arrangement  of  words  in  sentences  is 
without  much  regard  to  conventional  order  and  with- 
out proper  reflection,  as,  for  example,  "Know  what 
that?"  "Salt  on  my"  ("I  want  salt  on  my  nuts"), 
"Grape  want,"  "This  what  I  play."  At  this  stage 
the  comprehension  of  the  meanings  of  words  used  by 
others  is  far  in  advance  of  the  number  of  words  used  by 
the  child.1 

Children's  definitions.  —  It  is  interesting  to  nate 
that  children  in  their  early  years  almost  always  define 
words  in  terms  of  use.  Thus  an  orange  is  "to  eat," 
a  chair  "to  sit  on,"  a  river  means  "where  you  get  drinks 
out  of  and  catch  fish  and  throw  stones  in."  Such  facts 
give  interesting  confirmation  to  the  view  discussed 
in  the  last  chapter  that  meaning  is  the  counterpart  of 
motor  attitude. 

Oral  speech  usually  quite  fixed  by  school  age.  —  By 
the  time  the  child  is  of  school  age  he  usually  is  able  to 
pronounce  in  the  conventional  way  the  words  consti- 
tuting his  vocabulary.  Many  children,  however,  even 
at  this  age  need  careful  training  in  overcoming  defects 
of  speech,  such  as  stammering,  lisping,  etc.    The  range 

1  See  Kirkpatrick,  Individual  in  the  Making. 


LANGUAGE  159 

of  vocabulary  varies  greatly  with  individual  children, 
depending  on  intelligence  and  the  environmental  con- 
ditions. Naturally,  the  child  of  a  cultured  home  is  in 
a  position  to  make  more  rapid  progress  in  language 
development.  Making  due  allowance  for  these  differ- 
ences in  environment,  it  seems  probable  that  language 
capacity  is  a  fair  indication  of  intelligence. 

Some  investigators  of  the  language  development  of 
children  hold  that  there  is  a  period  of  peculiar  interest 
in  language  between  the  ages  of  eight  and  fifteen.  At 
this  period  many  children  invent  secret  languages. 
This  would  seem  to  be  a  favorable  time  for  learning 
foreign  languages.  At  any  rate,  it  is  certain  that  as  far 
as  speaking  a  foreign  language  is  concerned  the  earlier 
it  is  begun  the  better,  for  adults  rarely  learn  to  speak 
any  language  but  their  own  without  an  "accent." 

References 

Dewey,  J.    How  We  Think.    Chapter  XIII.     (Holt, 

1911.) 
Judd,  C.  H.    Psychology.    Chapter  X.    (Ginn,  1917.) 

Psychology  of  High  School  Subjects.    Chapter  VII. 

(Ginn,  1915.) 
Stout,  G.   F.     Manual  of  Psychology.     Chapter  V. 

(University  Tutorial  Press,  1915.) 
Waddle,  C.  W.    An  Introduction  to  Child  Psychology. 

Chapter  VII.    (Houghton  Mifflin,  1918.) 


CHAPTER  X 

ATTITUDES— ATTENTION,  FEELING,  AND 
EMOTION 

Consciousness  presents  a  characteristic  pattern.  — 
When  consciousness  is  observed  at  any  one  moment, 
there  is  found  to  be  present  more  than  one  percept, 
idea,  feeling,  or  other  conscious  process.  But  these 
processes  are  arranged  according  to  a  certain  pattern. 
There  is  always  one  process,  or  group  of  processes,  that 
is  most  prominent  and  stands  out  with  greater  clear- 
ness than  all  others.  Among  these  others  there  are 
also  varying  degrees  of  clearness.  This  aspect  of  the 
mental  life  is  called  attention.  Attention  is  not  a 
power  within  consciousness  that  makes  it  assume  this 
characteristic  pattern  where  some  processes  are  cen- 
tral and  others  marginal.  It  is  rather  the  name  used 
for  convenience  in  summing  up  in  one  word  this  par- 
ticular aspect  of  consciousness. 

Various  figures  of  speech  are  frequently  used  to  de- 
scribe the  facts  of  attention.  It  may  be  said,  for  ex- 
ample, that  those  conscious  processes  that  are  most 
prominent  are  central  and  the  others  peripheral;  or 
that  the  former  are  focal  and  the  latter  marginal.  Those 
that  are  so  far  removed  from  the  focus  of  attention  as 

160 


ATTITUDES— ATTENTION,  FEELING,  AND  EMOTION    161 

to  be  completely  unnoticed,  but  that  show  their  pres- 
ence by  their  subsequent  influence,  are  sometimes  said 
to  be  subliminal,  that  is,  below  the  threshold  of  con- 
sciousness. Fig.  23  may  be  taken  as  a  rough  representa- 
tion of  the  facts.  The  central  area  stands  for  the  point 
of  greatest  attention,  while  the  outlying  areas  repre- 
sent, by  their  varying  distances  from  the  center  and 
their  different  shading,  the  various  degrees  of  clear- 


Fig.  23. 

ness  of  those  factors  that  are  outside  the  point  of 
greatest  attention. 

Let  us  suppose  a  person  is  writing  at  a  certain  mo- 
ment. The  uppermost  thing  in  his  mind  is  the  idea 
or  thought  to  be  expressed.  This  point  occupies  the 
focal  point  of  attention.  But  at  the  same  moment  he 
may  be  conscious  of  the  paper  on  which  he  is  writing 
and  the  characters  formed,  though  these  are  not  no- 
ticed to  the  same  degree  as  the  thoughts  he  wishes  to 
express.  There  will  probably  be  many  other  processes 
vaguely  present  in  consciousness  at  the  same  time — 
for  example,  sensations  from  contact  of  his  fingers 


162  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

with  the  pen  he  is  using,  sounds  from  the  street  out- 
side, and  many  sensations  from  his  own  body,  such  as 
the  discomfort  due  to  the  bent  posture. 

Shifting  of  central  and  marginal  factors.  —  One  of 
the  most  interesting  features  of  the  attention  process 
is  the  continual  shifting  that  takes  place  between  the 
central  and  the  marginal  factors.  No  one  factor  re- 
mains long  in  the  point  of  greatest  clearness,  and  the 
marginal  elements  frequently  become  central  and  a 
moment  later  give  place  to  others.  In  this  way  a 
selection  is  being  made  from  moment  to  moment  of 
those  experiences  that  are  most  significant  for  a  per- 
son's needs.  In  the  illustration  just  cited,  for  exam- 
ple, one  thought  follows  another  for  some  time,  and 
the  writing  largely  takes  care  of  itself.  But  if  doubt 
arises  as  to  the  spelling  of  a  word,  or  if  the  pen  be- 
comes dry,  or  if  the  pain  in  the  back  becomes  too  in- 
tense, any  of  these  may  demand  attention  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  thought. 

The  selective  aspect  of  attention.  —  We  are  sur- 
rounded by  all  sorts  of  physical  sources  of  energy, 
which  are  continually  changing.  Nature  has  equipped 
us  through  our  sense-organs  with  the  capacity  to  note 
some  of  these  changes  (though  not  all)  and  to  govern 
our  behavior  accordingly.  There  will  be,  however, 
among  these  changes  that  are  brought  to  consciousness 
some  of  more  importance  than  others.  These  are  se- 
lected in  the  sense  that  we  become  more  clearly  aware 
of  them  and  react  to  them  to  the  exclusion  of  the 


ATTITUDES— ATTENTION,  FEELING,  AND  EMOTION    163 

others.  Add  to  all  these  physical  forms  of  stimulation 
the  memories,  thoughts,  and  feelings  that  are  so  promi- 
nent in  the  conscious  life  of  man,  and  the  need  of  the 
selective  process  of  attention  is  still  more  apparent. 

Attending  to  more  than  one  thing  at  a  time.  — 
It  is  probable  that  we  never  really  attend  to  more  than 
one  thing  at  a  time,  though  that  one  thing  may  be 
complex.  The  attention  may,  however,  pass  from  one 
thing  to  another  and  back  again  so  rapidly  as  really 
to  amount  to  the  same  thing.  The  ability  to  do  this  is 
characteristic  of  some  persons  of  more  than  ordinary 
ability,  among  whom  was  Julius  Caesar,  who  is  said 
to  have  been  able  to  dictate  four  letters  while  writing 
a  fifth.  There  is  also  the  possibility  of  performing 
more  than  one  activity  simultaneously,  provided  some 
of  them  are  so  well  learned  that  they  do  not  require 
attention  to  them.  In  certain  abnormal  states  some 
individuals  perform  activities,  such  as  that  of  auto- 
matic writing,  without  even  knowing  that  they  are 
taking  place.  The  extreme  marginal  elements  in  con- 
sciousness seem  to  be  concerned  in  these  activities. 

Classification  of  attention.  —  We  have  now  to  in- 
quire why  we  attend  to  some  things  and  not  to  others. 
We  may  be  aided  in  this  inquiry  by  drawing  a  distinc- 
tion between  spontaneous  or  passive  attention  and 
voluntary  or  active  attention.  Attention  is  said  to  be 
involuntary,  passive,  or  spontaneous  when  it  is  given 
naturally  and  without  effort  or  where  we  are  interested 
in  what  is  being  attended  to.    Attention  of  this  sort 


164  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

is  almost  always,  though  not  invariably,  accompanied 
by  pleasurable  feelings.  Spontaneous  attention  may 
again  be  classified  into  (1)  native  or  primary,  (2)  ac- 
quired or  secondary. 

Inherited  spontaneous  attention.  —  Just  as  we  found 
that  our  organisms  have  an  original  nature  to  behave 
in  certain  ways  (instincts),  so  it  is  also  true  that  it  is 
a  part  of  our  original  nature  to  attend  to  certain  things. 
The  first  answer  to  our  question  of  why  we  attend  to 
certain  things  and  not  to  others  is,  then,  that  it  is 
natural  to  do  so.  It  is  a  part  of  our  inherited  constitu- 
tions. We  see  this  kind  of  attention  clearly  manifested 
in  the  child  from  the  very  beginning  of  his  life.  For 
example,  from  the  time  the  baby  begins  to  notice  things 
about  him,  he  follows  with  his  eyes  moving  objects. 
His  attention  is  caught  by  bright  colors  and  loud  noises. 
These  are  situations  that  tend  to  attract  the  attention 
all  through  life.  Another  type  of  attention-drawing 
situation  is  change  of  any  sort.  The  clock-tick  may 
remain  unnoticed  as  long  as  it  continues,  but  it  is  very 
likely  to  draw  one's  attention  if  it  stops  suddenly.  Add 
to  these  situations  all  that  call  forth  instinctive  re- 
sponses, like  those  of  imitation,  play,  curiosity,  etc., 
and  it  will  be  seen  that  we  are  so  organized  from  birth 
as  to  attend  to  a  large  number  of  different  kinds  of  ex- 
periences, just  as  we  are  organized  from  the  beginning 
to  behave  in  certain  ways  that  are  the  reflex  and  in- 
stinctive responses  to  various  stimuli. 

The  acquired  form  of  spontaneous  attention  may  best 


ATTITUDES— ATTENTION,  FEELING,  AND  EMOTION    165 

be  described  after  we  have  discussed  voluntary  or  active 
attention. 

Voluntary  attention.  —  In  the  third  chapter  it  was 
shown  that,  besides  the  native  capacity  to  behave  in 
certain  ways  (instincts),  we  have  the  capacity  for 
learning  new  modes  of  response  (habits).  So,  too,  with 
attention.  We  are  fitted  by  nature  to  attend  to  cer- 
tain things,  but  we  have  also  the  general  capacity  to 
attend  to  that  which  is  not  natively  interesting.  This 
kind  of  attention  requires  effort,  and  it  has  therefore 
been  called  voluntary  or  active.  The  child  soon  learns 
to  recognize  the  importance  of  attending  to  what  is 
not  immediately  interesting  because  of  its  future  value. 
This  is  increasingly  true  as  he  begins  to  live  in  a  world 
of  thoughts  and  ideas,  as  contrasted  with  perceptions. 
The  importance  of  most  of  these  objects  of  attention 
has  been  already  discovered  by  parents  and  other  older 
persons  with  whom  the  child  comes  in  contact,  and 
social  pressure  is  brought  upon  the  child  to  attend  to 
these  things.  All  forms  of  work  and  study  are  good 
examples  of  activities  requiring  voluntary  attention. 

Acquired  spontaneous  attention.  —  But  the  simi- 
larity between  behavior  and  attention  in  their  develop- 
ment does  not  end  here.  The  more  frequently  new 
forms  of  behavior  take  place,  the  easier  they  become; 
and  the  more  frequently  we  voluntarily  attend  to  a 
new  form  of  activity,  the  easier  it  becomes.  The  effort 
becomes  less  and  less;  in  other  words,  the  attention 
becomes  less  voluntary  until  finally  we  reach  a  stage 


166  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

when  an  interest  has  been  developed  in  the  new  thing 
or  activity  for  its  own  sake.  An  acquired  interest 
has  been  developed.  We  thus  reach  a  stage  of  atten- 
tion which  is  like  the  native  spontaneous  attention  in 
its  effects,  but  which  has  had  an  entirely  different 
origin,  the  one  form  being  inherited,  the  other  acquired. 

Perhaps  no  better  illustration  of  the  development  of 
secondary  passive  attention  can  be  given  than  to  cite 
the  interest  that  certain  studies  gradually  acquire  when 
persistently  pursued.  The  development  of  interests 
of  this  sort  is  one  of  the  teacher's  chief  duties.  It  must 
not  be  supposed  that  in  any  particular  instance  of  at- 
tention it  is  easy  to  separate  the  factors  that  are  native 
from  those  that  are  acquired.  It  is  possible  and  even 
probable,  for  example,  that  the  basis  of  interest  in 
certain  lines  of  study  is  inherited.  It  is  undoubtedly 
true  that  individuals  differ  greatly  in  their  inherited 
interests,  and  that  there  are  important  sex  differences 
in  this  respect. 

Interest.  —  The  word  "interest"  as  commonly  used 
has  two  somewhat  different  meanings.  It  may  mean 
the  pleasurable  feeling  that  is  present  when  we  are 
attending  spontaneously  and  without  effort.  Inter- 
est is  also  used,  however,  to  designate  those  more  or 
less  permanent  dispositions,  both  native  and  acquired, 
which  cause  a  person  to  attend  in  a  certain  direction. 
It  is  in  the  latter  sense  that  a  person  may  be  said  to 
be  interested  in  music  or  painting  or  geometry.  From 
what  has  been  said  it  should  be  clear  that  the  teacher 


ATTITUDES— ATTENTION,  FEELING,  AND  EMOTION    167 

cannot  create  outright  an  interest  that  does  not  exist. 
If  the  child  is  interested  in  any  thing  or  activity,  it  is 
either  because  he  has  been  endowed  by  birth  with  an 
inclination  to  be  interested  in  that  direction  or  be- 
cause he  has  developed  it  through  former  experiences. 

Conditions  for  attention  must  be  present.  —  It 
would  be  no  proper  answer  to  our  inquiry  as  to  why 
we  attend  to  this  rather  than  that  at  any  moment  to 
reply  that  it  is  merely  a  matter  of  determining  to  do 
so.  Active  attention,  like  passive,  is  subject  to  condi- 
tions. Ideas,  especially  those  that  have  a  future  ref- 
erence and  those  that  express  the  purpose  of  the 
moment,  past  experience,  and  heredity  all  enter  in  as 
factors  to  determine  the  direction  of  attention.  So, 
too,  in  the  case  of  the  secondary  or  acquired  form  of 
passive  attention,  its  explanation  is  to  be  found  in 
the  individual's  past  history.  In  neither  case  is  it 
possible  to  understand  the  act  of  attention  by  consid- 
ering only  the  present  instance  of  its  activity.  For 
the  child  to  give  attention  at  any  particular  moment 
it  is  necessary  either  that  his  mind  should  have  been 
prepared  through  past  experience,  or  that  he  should 
be  naturally  interested  in  the  object  of  attention,  or 
both. 

Attention  related  to  motor  processes.  —  Attention, 
like  other  phases  of  the  conscious  life,  is  closely  re- 
lated to  muscular  processes.  There  is  a  certain  bodily 
"set"  corresponding  to  each  phase  of  the  attention 
process.     Thus  in  the  visual  sphere  attention  to.  an 


168  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

object  involves  the  turning  of  the  head  and  of  the  eyes 
so  that  they  are  fixated  on  the  object  (convergence) ; 
and  also  the  muscular  process  of  bringing  the  image  of 
the  object  to  a  focus  on  the  retina  (accommodation). 
In  listening  attentively  the  drum  membrane  of  the  ear 
assumes  a  degree  of  tension  suited  to  the  character  of 
the  sound.  Touch  sensations  are  made  clearer  by  ac- 
tive movements  of  the  fingers,  etc.  Similar  activities 
take  place  with  smell  and  taste  sensations. 

Furthermore,  intellectual  attention  is  also  accom- 
panied by  characteristic  muscular  processes.  Changes 
in  circulation  and  respiration  are  among  the  most  im- 
portant of  these.  In  momentary  concentration  of  the 
attention,  especially  in  listening,  breathing  becomes 
slower.  Different  persons  have  different  bodily  habits 
during  intellectual  attention,  such  as  wrinkling  the 
forehead,  knitting  the  brows,  doubling  the  fist,  or 
clenching  the  teeth.  The  more  intense  the  concentra- 
tion of  the  attention  becomes,  the  more  extensive  and 
intense  are  these  bodily  changes. 

These  bodily  processes  serve  to  reinforce  and  adapt 
the  body  for  the  particular  form  of  attention  to  be 
given.  They  are,  therefore,  of  prime  importance  in 
education.  To  adopt  the  correct  attitude  of  attention 
is  a  primary  requisite  for  arousing  the  attention  itself. 
The  inattentive  *  child  may  be  aroused  to  attention  if 

1  Properly  speaking,  inattention  is  attention  to  something  other 
than  that  which  the  teacher  desires  the  child  to  attend.  Under  such 
conditions  the  passive  form  of  attention  is  uppermost. 


ATTITUDES— ATTENTION,  FEELING,  AND  EMOTION    169 

required  to  assume  the  proper  bodily  attitude.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  easy  to  overestimate  the  practical  im- 
portance of  movement.  Children  are  much  more  given 
to  energetic  bodily  expression  of  attention  than  are 
adults.  They  wrinkle  their  brows  in  working,  move 
their  lips,  make  movements  with  their  heads  and  fin- 
gers to  a  much  greater  degree  than  adults.  This  seems 
to  be  a  useless  expenditure  of  energy  which  is  later 
overcome. 

Attention  and  observation.  —  Attention  to  material 
objects  and  events,  when  methodically  and  carefully 
carried  out,  is  sometimes  referred  to  as  observation. 
Some  light  is  thrown  on  the  development  of  attention 
and  the  other  processes  concerned  in  observation  by 
experiments  in  description  and  report.  These  experi- 
ments are  carried  out  by  having  the  child  observe  one 
or  more  objects  or  a  picture  for  a  short  time  (say 
half  a  minute)  and  then  describe  what  has  been  ob- 
served. Sometimes  questions  are  also  asked  to  supple- 
ment the  report.  From  the  results  of  such  experiments 
Stern  has  described  four  stages  or  levels  in  the  devel- 
opment of  observation:  (1)  Substance  stage.  The 
young  child  merely  enumerates  the  various  persons 
and  things  he  has  noted  one  after  another.  There  is 
no  attempt  to  state  any  connection  between  these  per- 
sons or  things.  (2)  Action  stage.  The  chief  objects 
of  attention  at  this  stage,  which  begins  at  about  the 
eighth  year,  consist  of  the  activities  of  people.  (3) 
Relation  stage.  Spatial,  temporal,  and  causal  relations 


170  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

are  reported  at  this  stage,  which  comes  from  the  twelfth 
to  the  fourteenth  year.  (4)  Quality  stage.  Finally 
the  properties  of  the  things  observed  are  analyzed  and 
noted. 

Stern  found  that,  in  general,  persons  are  much  more 
apt  to  be  observed  than  things,  objects  are  more  apt 
to  be  noted  than  their  qualities  and  relationships,  and 
that  spatial  relationships  are  more  apt  to  be  described 
than  colors.  Children  are  more  apt  to  jump  at  con- 
clusions with  regard  to  what  they  observe  than  are 
adults,  and  are  more  apt  to  be  certain  that  they  are 
right  even  when  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  are  wrong. 
They  are  more  suggestible  than  are  adults. 

Training  in  observation.  —  Training  children  in 
observation  should  not  have  as  its  purpose  the  impos- 
sible one  of  teaching  the  child  to  observe  the  details 
of  everything  it  is  possible  to  observe.  Attention  is  a 
selective  capacity,  and  derives  its  usefulness  in  part 
from  the  fact  that  it  concentrates  on  some  things  to 
the  exclusion  of  others.  The  ordinary  affairs  of  life 
lead  to  the  observation  of  those  things  and  events  that 
are  most  useful  for  our  immediate  purposes,  but  such 
observation  is  too  limited  to  meet  the  higher  demands 
of  scientific  knowledge  and  esthetic  appreciation.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  child  needs  training  in  observation,  not 
for  the  sake  of  training  his  capacity  for  observation  in 
general,  but  for  broadening  his  interests  in  those  really 
significant  things  that  would  otherwise  be  overlooked. 
In  order  to  do  this  the  child  must  be  taught  not  merely 


ATTITUDES— ATTENTION,  FEELING,  AND  EMOTION    171 

to  observe  but  what  to  observe  and  what  to  look  for. 

Feelings  and  emotions  classified  as  "attitudes."  — 
Attention  has  been  called  a  selective  attitude  of  mind. 
It  is  that  phase  of  conscious  activity  which  emphasizes 
some  one  part  of  the  conscious  activity  of  the  moment 
as  the  one  to  which  we  shall  react,  and  at  the  same 
time  inhibits  others  from  seeking  their  normal  outlet 
in  action.  Among  the  other  most  important  phases  of 
consciousness  that  are  also  to  be  classified  as  attitudes 
are  the  feelings  and  the  emotions. 

Simple  feelings  accompany  most  of  the  other  con- 
scious processes.  —  Simple  feelings  are  among  the 
most  common  aspects  of  the  mental  life.  They  are 
those  experiences  of  pleasantness  and  unpleasantness 
which  accompany  nearly  all,  if 'not  all,  of  our  other  con- 
scious processes.  Sensations,  for  example,  almost  al- 
ways have  a  feeling  tone  of  some  degree  of  pleasantness 
or  unpleasantness.  Normally  a  sweet  taste  is  pleasant, 
a  sour  taste  unpleasant;  some  colors  and  especially 
some  combinations  of  colors  are  pleasing,  others  dis- 
pleasing. So,  too,  sounds,  tastes,  odors,  and  various 
kinds  of  touch  sensations,  warmth,  and  cold  have  their 
characteristic  qualities  of  agreeableness  or  disagree- 
ableness.  Again,  our  thoughts,  imaginations,  memo- 
ries, and  other  so-called  higher  processes  are  attended 
by  experiences  of  pleasure  and  displeasure. 

Attitudes  are  subjective.' — These  feeling  attitudes 
are  clearly  to  be  set  over  against  the  cognitive  aspects 
of  consciousness  as  constituting  a  different  class  of  men- 


172  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

tal  processes.  The  difference  is  sometimes  expressed 
by  saying  that  attitudes  are  more  subjective  than  the 
cognitive  processes.  In  some  sense  the  experience  of 
color,  of  sound,  of  touch  is  an  experience  of  the  quali- 
ties of  an  object.  But  the  agreeable  or  disagreeable 
feeling  is  in  no  sense  inherent  in  the  object;  it  repre- 
sents the  reaction  that  the  individual  makes  to  the 
object — a  reaction  of  acceptance  or  rejection. 

The  subjective  nature  of  feelings  is  further  em- 
phasized by  the  way  they  differ  in  character  under 
various  circumstances,  though  accompanied  by  the 
same  sensory  content.  Thus  the  more  intense  pain 
caused  by  pressing  an  aching  tooth  is  frequently  agree- 
able. The  odor  of  tobacco,  usually  fragrant  to  the 
smoker,  is  strongly  obnoxious  if  he  is  seasick.  In  some 
moods  nothing  pleases,  while  in  others  the  reverse  is 
true.  Memories  of  most  painful  experiences  may  in 
the  course  of  time  become  pleasant  in  retrospect. 

Relation  of  learning  to  feeling.  —  The  relation  of 
feeling  to  the  learning  process  has  already  been  men- 
tioned. Fundamentally,  feeling  is  an  index,  as  has 
been  said,  of  acceptance  or  rejection.  What  is  pleas- 
urable is  persisted  in,  what  is  unpleasant  is  refrained 
from.  Some  lines  of  activity  are  pleasurable  for  their 
own  sakes,  but  if  associated  with  stronger  unpleasur- 
able  experiences  the  effect  is  to  make  the  person  re- 
frain from  them.  On  the  other  hand,  associating  the 
task  that  is  inherently  disagreeable  with  pleasurable 
experiences  makes  the  repetition  of  the  task  so  much 


ATTITUDES— ATTENTION,  FEELING,  AND  EMOTION    173 

the  easier.  Herein  lies  the  whole  value  of  reward  and 
punishment  in  education. 

Emotions  are  more  complex  attitudes.  —  Of  still 
greater  significance  for  the  mental  life  is  that  group 
of  complex  attitudes  known  as  emotions.  These  com- 
prise such  experiences  as  fear,  anger,  love,  hatred,  sym- 
pathy, jealousy,  joy,  sadness,  shame,  and  pride.  These 
very  intense  experiences  are  closely  related  to  the  in- 
stincts that  have  been  already  described.  James  has 
shown  this  relation  clearly  in  his  definition  of  emo- 
tions: "An  emotion  is  a  tendency  to  feel,  and  an  in- 
stinct is  a  tendency  to  act,  characteristically,  when  in 
the  presence  of  a  certain  object  in  the  environment. 
The  only  distinction  one  may  draw  is  that  the  reaction 
called  emotional  terminates  in  the  subject's  own  body, 
whilst  the  reaction  called  instinctive  is  apt  to  go  farther 
and  enter  into  practical  relations  with  the  exciting 
object." 

Relation  of  emotion  to  its  motor  accompaniments. 
—  Every  emotion  carries  with  it  instinctive  bodily 
responses,  which  we  call  in  every-day  speech  expres- 
sions of  the  emotion.  Thus  in  fear  there  is  momen- 
tary slowing  of  the  heart-beat,  followed  by  very  rapid 
heart  action ;  the  breathing  is  affected ;  the  limbs  trem- 
ble; the  face  grows  pale;  the  person  may  run  or  on  the 
contrary  be  unable  to  do  so,  and  there  is  a  contraction 
of  the  muscles  of  the  stomach.  Any  one  or  more  of 
these  responses,  except  probably  the  last,  may  be  ab- 
sent, or  at  least  scarcely  noticeable;  but  there  is  al- 


174  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

ways  present  the  characteristic  feeling  of  disturbance 
located  at  the  pit  of  the  stomach. 

Now,  this  characteristic  feeling  in  the  stomach  con- 
stituting the  core  of  the  emotion  is,  like  the  other  ef- 
fects mentioned,  caused  by  the  motor  effects  of  the 
exciting  situation.  Like  the  changes  in  the  heart-beat 
and  breathing,  it  is  caused  by  muscular  contraction 
within  the  bodily  organs.  The  motor  discharges  caus- 
ing these  contractions  do  not  result  in  outwardly  ob- 
servable changes  in  behavior,  such  as  running  away, 
or  trembling,  or  lack  of  control  of  the  speech  muscles, 
but  like  the  latter  they  are  reported  to  consciousness 
and  together  with  them  produce  the  wide-spread  ef- 
fects that  are  felt  as  the  emotion.  The  fear  is  the  feel- 
ing of  the  wide-spread  motor  effects  of  the  exciting  sit- 
uation in  various  portions  of  the  body.  Thus  the  fear 
does  not  cause  the  expressions  of  fear,  as  popularly 
supposed.  It  would  be  much  nearer  the  truth  to  say 
that  the  emotion  is  caused  by  the  muscular  responses 
in  the  body.  This  view  has  been  forcibly  though  with 
exaggeration  expressed  by  James  in  his  frequently 
quoted  passage :  "We  feel  sorry  because  we  cry,  angry 
because  we  strike,  afraid  because  we  tremble." 

Educational  significance  of  emotions.  —  The  educa- 
tional significance  of  this  doctrine  is  clear,  and  cannot 
be  expressed  better  than  in  the  following  quotation 
from  James: 

Every  one  knows  how  panic  is  increased  by  flight, 
and  how  the  giving  way  to  the  symptoms  of  grief  or 


ATTITUDES— ATTENTION,  FEELING,  AND  EMOTION    175 

anger  increases  those  passions  themselves.  Each  fit 
of  sobbing  makes  the  sorrow  more  acute,  and  calls 
forth  another  fit  stronger  still,  until  at  last  repose  only 
ensues  with  lassitude  and  with  the  apparent  exhaus- 
tion of  the  machinery.  In  rage  it  is  notorious  how  we 
"work  ourselves  up"  to  a  climax  by  repeated  outbreaks 
of  expression.  Refuse  to  express  a  passion  and  it  dies. 
Count  ten  before  venting  your  anger,  and  its  occa- 
sion seems  ridiculous.  Whistling  to  keep  up  your  cour- 
age is  no  mere  figure  of  speech.  On  the  other  hand, 
sit  still  all  day  in  a  moping  posture,  sigh  and  reply  to 
everything  with  a  dismal  voice,  and  your  melancholy 
lingers.  There  is  no  more  valuable  precept  in  mora] 
education  than  this,  as  all  who  have  experience  know: 
if  we  wish  to  conquer  undesirable  emotional  tenden- 
cies in  ourselves,  we  must  assiduously,  and  in  the  first 
instance  cold-bloodedly,  go  through  the  outward  move- 
ments of  those  contrary  dispositions  which  we  prefer 
to  cultivate.  The  reward  of  persistency  will  infallibly 
come  in  the  fading  out  of  the  sullenness  or  depression 
and  the  advent  of  real  cheerfulness  and  kindliness  in 
their  stead.  Smooth  the  brow,  brighten  the  eye,  con- 
tract the  dorsal  rather  than  the  ventral  aspect  of  the 
frame,  and  speak  in  a  major  key,  pass  the  general  com- 
pliment, and  your  heart  must  be  frigid  indeed  if  it 
do  not  gradually  thaw. 

The  function  of  emotions.  —  One  is  naturally  led, 
by  the  fact  that  emotions  need  to  be  curbed  and  modi- 
fied, to  ask  what  is  the  function  of  the  emotion?  Are 
emotions  ever  serviceable  or  should  they  be  repressed 
altogether?  The  answer  to  these  questions  occurs  at 
once  to  everybody.    We  do  not  admire  the  person  who 


176  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

is  absolutely  cold  and  indifferent  to  the  life  of  feeling. 
It  is  generally  agreed  that  such  emotions  as  love  and 
sympathy  should  be  cultivated,  while  hatred  and  envy 
should  be  repressed.  It  is  generally  admitted  that 
there  are  occasions  for  anger  and  pride,  even  though 
these  occasions  are  rare. 

The  truth  seems  to  be  that  the  emotions,  together 
with  the  instincts,  have  survived  as  mental  functions 
because  of  their  racial  utility.  They  are  capacities 
that  have  arisen  in  response  to  the  necessity  for  imme- 
diate and  energetic  response.  The  emotions  represent 
a  sudden  check  to  the  onward  normal  flow  of  events 
to  which  the  organism  must  respond  at  once  without 
deliberation.  Under  conditions  of  primitive  life,  when 
man  was  mainly  engaged  in  coping  with  the  forces  of 
nature  and  with  his  fellow  man  in  the  most  direct  way, 
some  of  the  emotions,  like  anger  and  fear,  were  much 
more  useful  than  they  are  to-day,  when  all  of  our  re- 
lationships to  objects  and  persons  are  of  a  less  direct 
kind.  As  society  became  more  organized,  on  the  other 
hand,  those  emotions  that  tend,  like  love  and  sym- 
pathy, to  the  preservation  of  social  groups  became 
relatively  more  important,  and  were  generally  recog- 
nized as  worthy  of  cultivation.  It  is  clear,  however, 
that  the  emotional  reaction  under  conditions  of  civ- 
ilized life  finds  its  chief  utility  in  the  energy  which  it 
supplies  for  action,  while  its  chief  danger  is  in  the  im- 
mediacy of  the  action.  Under  the  stress  of  emotion  a 
man  may  accomplish  prodigious  feats  of  strength  and 


ATTITUDES— ATTENTION,  FEELING,  AND  EMOTION    177 

endurance,  but  he  may  also  do  prodigiously  foolish 
things.  Blind,  non-deliberative  action  is  not  suited  to 
conditions  of  modern  society.  The  life  of  feeling  must 
be  subordinated  to  that  of  intellect. 

The  child's  emotional  life.  —  The  emotional  life  of 
the  child  needs  the  wisest  and  most  sympathetic  over- 
sight. Evidence  accumulates  that  emotional  strains 
are  among  the  most  frequent  causes  of  disturbance  in 
the  mental  life.  The  sensitive  boy  subjected  to  shame 
at  the  hands  of  a  thoughtless  teacher  may  have  his 
school  career  wrecked,  or  at  least  he  may  accomplish 
little  until  put  under  the  direction  of  a  new  teacher. 
Sheer  repression  of  the  instinctive  emotional  tenden- 
cies, which  are  deep-seated  racial  reactions,  often  leads 
to  disastrous  results.  What  is  needed  in  such  cases 
is  that  the  situation  be  frankly  faced  and  the  pent-up 
emotional  channels  given  an  outlet  in  some  direction 
that  is  useful  rather  than  harmful. 

References 

Angell,  J.  R.  Psychology.  Chapters  IV,  XIII, 
XVIII,  XIX.     (Holt,  1908.) 

Judd,  C.  H.  Psychology.  Chapters  VI,  VII,  XV. 
(Ginn,  1917.) 

Pillsbury,  W.  B.  Essentials  of  Psychology.  Chap- 
ters V,  XI,  XII.    (Macmillan,  1911.) 

Stout,  G.  F.  Manual  of  Psychology.  Chapters  III, 
IV.     (University  Tutorial  Press,  1915.) 


CHAPTER  XI 
VOLUNTARY  ACTION 

Involuntary  action.  —  In  the  introductory  chapter 
the  fundamental  principle  was  laid  down  that  con- 
sciousness is  a  function  of  the  organism  that  is  used 
in  adapting  it  to  its  environment.  In  each  succeeding 
chapter  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  show  how  the 
various  kinds  of  conscious  processes  are  accompanied 
by  characteristic  forms  of  action.  It  has  been  shown 
that  we  start  out  with  a  native  equipment  of  automatic, 
reflex,  and  instinctive  activities  made  in  response  to 
certain  of  the  objects  and  situations  that  we  perceive. 

These  native  activities  are  modified  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  and  at  the  same  time  habitual  ways  of 
action  gradually  develop  for  other  situations  and  ob- 
jects for  which  we  have  at  first  no  definite  modes 
of  response.  Instinctive  and  habitual  forms  of  action, 
though  quite  different  in  their  origin,  are  in  some  re- 
spects quite  similar.  Both  classes  of  action  are  very 
immediate  and  direct  responses  to  the  stimulus  that 
prompts  them.  Because  of  this  fact  these  forms  of  be- 
havior are  sometimes  called  involuntary. 

Involuntary  action  referred  to  the  bodily  self.  —  It 
has  also  been  shown  that  in  the  case  of  reflex  and  auto- 

178 


VOLUNTARY  ACTION  179 

matic  actions  consciousness  plays  little  or  no  part.  In 
the  case  of  instinctive  activities  there  is  often  present, 
as  a  part  of  the  stimulus  to  action  complex,  bodily  sen- 
sations that  "urge"  us  on  to  the  execution  of  the  act. 
These  sensations,  being  recognized  as  coming  from 
bodily  conditions,  help  to  give  the  instincts  their  in- 
voluntary character,  since  they  are  recognized  as  be- 
longing to  the  bodily  self  rather  than  that  higher  self 
the  conceptual  development  of  which  was  traced  in  a 
preceding  chapter. 

Involuntary  action  frequently  accompanied  by  feel- 
ings and  emotions.  —  Furthermore,  instinctive  actions 
are  usually  accompanied  by  those  complex  forms  of 
consciousness  that  we  call  emotions,  and  the  observable 
outward  action  is  only  a  part  of  the  motor  reaction. 
The  inner  bodily  responses  constituting  a  part  of  the 
emotional  expression  are,  as  we  have  seen,  very  impor- 
tant parts  of  the  total  reaction. 

In  contrast  with  the  strongly  emotional  tone  of  most 
instinctive  action  stands  the  pale  and  neutral  character 
of  many  perceptual  habits.  Simple  feelings  of  satis- 
faction and  dissatisfaction  play  their  part  in  the  de- 
velopment of  these,  and  in  some  cases  pleasure  and 
displeasure  are  marked  accompaniments  of  response 
to  habitual  situations.  In  many  other  cases  the  per- 
ceptual response,  however,  is  so  devoid  of  feeling  tone 
that  in  this  respect  they  seem  to  be  much  more  nearly 
allied  to  the  pure  reflexes  than  to  the  instincts. 

Voluntary  action.  —  With  the  advent  of  ideas  the 


180  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

relationship  of  consciousness  to  action  becomes  much 
more  complicated,  and  a  type  of  action  arises  that,  in 
contrast  with  the  simpler  forms  of  action,  we  call 
voluntary.  If  we  followed  our  ordinary  way  of  speak- 
ing of  them,  voluntary  actions  would  be  defined  as 
actions  that  are  willed.  But  to  speak  of  an  action 
as  due  to  "will,"  or,  as  it  is  frequently  put,  "will  pow- 
er," is  highly  objectionable  from  a  psychological  point 
of  view.  What  we  need  to  know  is  what  "will"  is  and 
how  willed  acts  differ  from  others  that  are  not  willed. 

Purposefulness  of  voluntary  action.  —  One  of  the 
first  answers  that  come  to  the  latter  question  is  that 
voluntary  acts  differ  from  involuntary  in  the  forward- 
looking  attitude  of  mind  that  is  taken  when  they  are 
made.  Voluntary  action  is  purposeful  action ;  that  is, 
it  contemplates  the  end  of  the  action  before  it  is  made. 
We  have  already  learned  that  this  forward-looking 
tendency  is  made  possible  by  means  of  the  capacity 
that  man  has  of  forming  ideas.  We  have  also  seen  that 
ideas,  while  they  are  related  to  past  sensory  experi- 
ence, are  not  forced  upon  us  by  environmental  condi- 
tions at  the  moment  of  our  experiencing  them,  but  are 
in  large  measure  our  own  constructs.  Because  of  these 
characteristics,  behavior  in  response  to  ideas  is  regarded 
as  being  much  more  truly  an  expression  of  our  real 
selves  than  in  the  case  of  involuntary  actions,  which 
are  in  a  sense  forced  upon  us  by  environmental  condi- 
tions. 

Ideas  often  inhibit  one  another  and  delay  action.  — 


VOLUNTARY  ACTION  181 

There  are  still  other  reasons  for  this  feeling  of  freedom 
that  usually  accompanies  voluntary  action.  Ideas  are 
seldom  in  consciousness  singly,  and  the  presence  of  two 
or  more  ideas  at  one  and  the  same  time,  instead  of  lead- 
ing to  action,  may  lead  to  the  deferring  of  action,  at 
least  as  far  as  outwardly  observable  action  is  concerned. 
Such  is  the  case  in  those  instances  that  we  regard  as 
the  typical  instances  of  "will,"  where  deliberation  and 
decision  or  choice  are  necessary.  In  such  cases  the 
natural  outcome  in  action  of  one  idea  is  offset  or  in- 
hibited by  another.  The  interplay  between  ideas, 
therefore,  has  the  useful  function  of  blocking  hasty 
action  and  of  allowing  consideration  of  the  conse- 
quences of  action.  Every  moment  of  ideational  con- 
sciousness is  likely  to  be  a  complex  of  ideas,  each 
contending,  so  to  speak,  for  the  right  of  control,  the 
result  being  a  suspension  of  action  until  such  time  as 
one  of  the  ideas  gains  the  victory. 

Isolated  ideas  issue  in  immediate  action.  —  A  single 
idea,  however,  has  no  effect  of  postponing  action.  In- 
deed, it  is  of  the  very  nature  of  the  idea  that  action 
should  follow  it,  similar  to  that  which  accompanied 
the  sensory  experiences  from  which  the  idea  was  de- 
rived. If  our  minds  were  so  constructed  that  ideas 
popped  into  consciousness  one  after  the  other,  each 
idea  for  the  time  being  holding  complete  sway,  each 
idea  would  manifest  itself  in  action  in  a  way  almost  as 
immediate  as  perceptual  action. 

Suggestion  illustrates  ideo-motor  action.  —  Condi- 


182  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

tions  somewhat  approaching  this  state  of  affairs  some- 
times occur.  Perhaps  the  most  extreme  cases  are  those 
occurring  under  conditions  of  hypnosis,  already  re- 
ferred to  under  the  head  of  suggestion.  The  most  strik- 
ing effect  of  the  hypnotic  condition  is  the  increased 
attention  of  the  subject  to  all  ideas  suggested  by  the 
hypnotizer  and  the  inhibition  of  all  other  ideas.  Ac- 
tion appropriate  to  the  hypnotizer's  ideas  naturally 
and  inevitably  follows.  But  cases  of  ideo-motor  action 
are  by  no  means  confined  to  abnormal  conditions  such 
as  hypnosis.  The  well-known  suggestibility  of  chil- 
dren and  mobs,  the  phenomena  of  muscle-reading, 
ouija-boards,  suppressed  speech  movements  in  silent 
reading,  are  all  cases  in  point. 

Ideo-motor  action  often  found  under  normal  con- 
ditions. —  Sometimes  the  idea  is  of  such  a  nature  that 
it  includes  as  a  part  of  the  idea  itself  the  deferring  of 
action  until  a  more  or  less  definite  time  in  the  future, 
a  phenomenon  that  is  both  familiar  and  normal,  as 
well  as  closely  similar  to  post-hypnotic  suggestion,  de- 
scribed in  Chapter  VII.  A  most  interesting  case  of 
this  sort  is  one  in  which  we  successfully  set  ourselves 
to  awake  at  an  unaccustomed  early  hour.  In  a  simi- 
lar fashion  we  look  ahead  to  engagements,  the  doing 
of  errands,  and  similar  routine  activities,  and  when 
the  time  comes  find  ourselves  performing  them.  Such 
evidence,  together  with  much  experimental  evidence 
that  lack  of  space  precludes  us  from  giving,  warrants 
the  view  that  all  ideas,  when  not  impeded  by  the  pres- 


VOLUNTARY  ACTION 


183 


ence  of  other  ideas,  work  themselves  out  into  action. 
Summary  of  relation  of  consciousness  to  action.  — 
The  following  table  will  serve  to  summarize  the  facts 
of  consciousness  and  action  that  may  be  regarded  as  the 
basic  conditions  on  which  voluntary  action  is  founded : 


Stimulus 

Consciousness 

Action 

Internal     condition     of 
bodily  organism 

External  object  or  sit- 
uation   

None 

None   or   vague   per- 
ception 

Perception    +    or  — 
emotion 

Perception    +    or  — 
feelings  of  pleasure 
or  displeasure 

Ideas  +  or  —  feeling 
of  pleasure   or  dis- 
pleasure or  emotion 

Automatic 
Reflex 

Instinctive             . 

Perceptual  habits 

Ideo-motor  habits 

<D 

External  object  or  sit- 
uation +  or  —  bodily 
conditions 

External  object  or  sit- 
uation   

No   immediate  sensory 
stimulus  but  following 
perception    or    other 

T3 

y  3 
cr 
o 

< 

Voluntary  decision  dependent  on  attention.  —  There 
is  no  abrupt  line  of  demarcation  between  voluntary 
and  involuntary  action.  Ideo-motor  action  partakes 
of  the  nature  of  both.  In  such  action  there  is  at  least 
some  degree  of  purposefulness,  some  looking  forward 
to  the  end  of  the  action ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  mere 
presence  of  the  idea  seems  to  be  sufficient  to  carry  us 
on  to  the  execution  of  the  action.  Voluntary  action 
of  the  complete  sort,  however,  arises  when  two  or  more 
of  the  tendencies  to  action  enumerated  in  our  table  are 


184  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

present,  each  striving  for  expression.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances a  dramatic  try-out  of  the  consequences  of 
action  takes  place  in  consciousness  before  action  oc- 
curs. When  decision  or  choice  is  reached,  one  of  the 
conflicting  tendencies  has  succeeded  in  crowding  out 
the  others,  and  at  that  moment  voluntary  action  be- 
comes ideo-motor.  The  preferred  idea  takes  its  nat- 
ural course.  Voluntary  choice  is  thus  fundamentally 
a  phenomenon  of  attention. 

James  has  graphically  described  what  takes  place 
in  the  following  illustration,  which  makes  a  strong 
appeal  to  most  readers: 

We  know  what  it  is  to  get  out  of  bed  on  a  freezing 
morning  in  a  room  without  a  fire,  and  how  the  very 
vital  principle  within  us  protests  against  the  ordeal. 
Probably  most  persons  have  lain  on  certain  mornings 
for  an  hour  at  a  time,  unable  to  brace  themselves  for 
the  resolve.  We  think  how  late  we  shall  be,  how  the 
duties  of  the  day  will  suffer;  we  say,  "I  must  get  up, 
this  is  ignominious,"  etc.;  but  still  the  warm  couch 
feels  too  delicious,  the  cold  outside  too  cruel,  and  reso- 
lution faints  away  and  postpones  itself  again  and  again 
just  as  it  seemed  on  the  verge  of  bursting  the  resist- 
ance and  passing  over  into  the  decisive  act. 

Now,  how  do  we  ever  get  up  under  such  circum- 
stances? If  I  may  generalize  from  my  own  experi- 
ence, we  more  often  than  not  get  up  without  any 
struggle  or  decision  at  all.  We  suddenly  find  out  that 
we  have  got  up.  A  fortunate  lapse  of  consciousness 
occurs;  we  forget  both  the  warmth  and  the  cold;  we 
fall  into  some  revery  connected  with  the  day's  life,  in 


VOLUNTARY  ACTION  185 

the  course  of  which  the  idea  flashes  across  us,  "Hello ! 
I  must  be  here  no  longer" — an  idea  which  at  that 
lucky  instant  awakens  no  contradictory  or  paralyz- 
ing suggestions,  and  consequently  produces  immedi- 
ately its  appropriate  motor  effects.  It  was  our  acute 
consciousness  of  both  the  warmth  and  the  cold  during 
the  period  of  struggle  which  paralyzed  our  activity  then 
and  kept  our  idea  of  rising  in  the  condition  of  wish 
and  not  of  will.  The  moment  these  inhibitory  ideas 
ceased,  the  original  idea  exerted  its  effects. 

It  is,  of  course,  a  mere  figure  of  speech  to  say,  as  we 
did  in  a  former  paragraph,  that  one  idea  contends  with 
another  and  that  one  gains  a  victory  over  another. 
In  reality,  the  ideas  are  merely  parts  of  a  total  complex 
inner  condition,  the  material  outcome  of  which  is  the 
balancing  of  muscular  action  until  the  moment  arrives 
when  attention  is  held  by  one  phase  of  this  total  com- 
plex, the  balance  is  upset,  and  action  results.  Volun- 
tary action,  in  the  sense  of  choice  and  decision,  is  thus 
seen  to  be  a  phenomenon  of  attention. 

Voluntary  action  dependent  upon  involuntary.  — 
This  kind  of  action  is,  then,  the  goal  of  mental  de- 
velopment; but  it  is  made  possible  only  by  the  original 
stock  of  instinctive  activities  and  the  perceptual  habits 
that  have  been  acquired.  At  the  stage  where  action  is 
under  the  guidance  of  ideas  a  certain  self-sufficiency 
is  attained  which  makes  possible  what  we  call  self- 
control;  but,  just  as  the  ideas  themselves  have  their 
origin  in  earlier  sensory  experiences,  voluntary  action 


186  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

arises  out  of  original  instinctive  and  impulsive  tenden- 
cies. One  cannot  perform  an  entirely  new  act  by  sheer 
force  of  "will." 

Let  any  one  who  has  not  already  learned  to  do  so 
try  to  move  the  ears.  The  muscles  to  perform  this 
action  are  there,  but  they  will  not  respond.  Only  a 
great  deal  of  effort,  resulting  in  wide-spread  movement 
in  the  muscles  of  the  face  and  scalp,  will  bring  even 
approximate  success.  But  with  repeated  effort  there 
arises  an  idea  of  the  way  "it  feels"  to  move  the  ears, 
and  after  much  practice  the  movement  of  the  ears  can 
be  made  without  the  accompanying  scalp  and  face 
movements.  Voluntary  control  takes  place  after  a 
series  of  efforts  which  may  be  conveniently  de- 
scribed as  "trial  and  error  learning."  The  many  ac- 
tivities that  follow  what  we  call  "willing"  are  made 
possible  only  because  of  our  native  equipment  of  ac- 
tivities and  the  subsequent  learning  process.  "Will" 
turns  out  to  be  not  some  mysterious  power  that  comes 
suddenly  into  existence,  making  the  action  possible, 
but  merely  a  name  for  a  present  capacity  that  has  its 
roots  in  the  past. 

Deliberation  is  a  mental  review  of  the  effects  of 
action.  —  Even  at  the  perceptual  level  of  activity,  ten- 
dencies to  opposed  activities  at  one  and  the  same  time 
may  manifest  themselves.  Titchener  illustrates  such 
tendencies  by  citing  the  case  of  the  young  child  con- 
fronted by  a  strange  dog.  Under  such  circumstances 
"the    impulse    towards  .  .  .  and    the    impulse   away 


VOLUNTARY  ACTION  187 

from  are  realized  in  quick  succession.  The  child  goes 
up  to  the  dog,  runs  back  to  its  father,  approaches  the 
dog  again,  and  so  on."  Adults  often  catch  themselves 
starting  to  perform  one  of  two  incompatible  actions 
and  then  suddenly  abandoning  it  to  perform  the  other. 
But  deliberation  is  very  different  from  the  outcomes 
of  two  conflicting  perceptual  tendencies  like  those  just 
described.  In  deliberation  the  first  most  notable  fact 
is  the  checking  of  outward  action  and  the  substitution 
in  its  place  of  a  series  of  associated  ideas,  the  conse- 
quences of  which  are  mentally  reviewed  and  the  worth 
of  which  is  tested  in  the  light  of  the  whole  personality. 
The  effect  is  a  substitute  for  actual  trial  of  the  motor 
consequences  of  each  without  the  necessity  of  really 
performing  the  action.  In  so  far  as  the  matters  in- 
volved are  of  a  purely  intellectual  sort,  we  have  here 
in  deliberative  action  exactly  the  conditions  already 
described  under  the  head  of  "Thinking." 

Moral  choice.  —  In  other  cases,  however,  deliberation 
involves  not  merely  the  consideration  of  which  is  the 
more  logically  correct  of  two  or  more  possible  decisions, 
but  which  is  the  better  line  of  conduct.  The  most 
striking  examples  of  this  type  of  deliberation  are  those 
cases  that  involve  moral  choice.  Here  we  find  the  most 
complex  situations  of  all,  with  the  various  conflicting 
tendencies  of  our  nature  each  clamoring  for  expression. 

Necessity  for  choice  due  to  conflict  of  desires.  — 
We  commonly  speak  of  these  experiences  that  call  for 
moral  choice  as  being  due  to  the  conflict  of  desires.    It 


188  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

will  pay  us,  therefore,  to  examine  what  is  meant  by 
desire. 

When  we  think  of  an  action  as  taking  place  and  re- 
sulting in  pleasure  and  satisfaction  to  ourselves,  we 
are  said  to  desire.  Sometimes  the  desire  is  said  to  be 
for  objects,  but  in  this  case  the  meaning  is  obviously 
that  the  desired  object  should  be  used.  In  these  cases, 
too,  the  satisfaction  is  contemplated  as  being  attached 
to  the  outcome  of  some  action  with  respect  to  the  de- 
sired object.  Desires  are  first  of  all  manifested  in  con- 
nection with  instinctive  and  habitual  forms  of  response 
that  are  associated  with  immediate  satisfactions.  But 
with  the  growth  of  experience  more  and  more  value  is 
placed  on  ideal  forms  of  satisfaction,  which  can  be  ob- 
tained only  by  the  denial  of  the  immediate  satisfaction. 

Formation  of  ideals.  —  With  the  growing  conception 
of  self  a  sort  of  hierarchy  of  desires  is  arranged,  repre- 
senting by  its  arrangement  the  value  attached  to  each 
as  expressive  of  the  true  nature  of  the  self.  In  this  way 
are  developed  those  more  or  less  constant  rules  of  con- 
duct called  ideals,  which  usually  represent  the  aims 
approved  by  the  social  environment  in  which  we  live. 

The  "self"  in  moral  choice.  —  The  following  quota- 
tion from  Stout  describes  the  way  in  which  the  con- 
ception of  self  influences  moments  of  decision: 

Voluntary  action  does  not  follow  either  of  the  con- 
flicting tendencies,  as  such;  it  follows  our  preference 
of  the  one  to  the  other.  .  .  .    The  alternative  is  not 


VOLUNTARY  ACTION  189 

"this"  or  "that,"  but  "shall  /  do  this?"  or  "shall  / 
do  that?"  Each  line  of  action,  with  its  results,  is  con- 
sidered not  in  isolation  but  as  part  of  the  ideally  con- 
structed whole  for  which  the  word  "I"  stands.  The 
impulse  of  the  present  moment  belongs  to  the  Self 
of  the  present  moment;  but  this  is  only  a  transient 
phase  of  the  total  Self.  If  the  impulse  is  realized  the 
completed  action  will  take  its  place  as  a  component 
part  of  the  life-history  of  the  individual.  He  may  live 
to  regret  it.  In  his  present  mood,  with  bottle  and  glass 
before  him,  he  may  desire  to  get  drunk;  but  sobriety 
may  have  been  the  habit  and  principle  of  a  lifetime. 
If  he  yields  to  temptation,  the  remembrance  of  the 
act  will  stand  out  in  painful  conflict  with  his  normal 
tendencies.  He  will  be  unable  to  think  of  it  without  a 
pang. 

This  incompatibility  between  the  normal  Self  and 
the  present  impulse,  if  vividly  enough  realized  at  the 
moment  of  temptation,  will  restrain  him  from  drink- 
ing. If  it  is  not  sufficient,  further  developments  of 
the  conception  of  Self  may  be  more  efficacious.  He 
may  think  of  himself  as  churchwarden  or  elder;  he 
may  think  of  the  ideal  aspirations  of  his  better  mo- 
ments; he  may  call  to  mind  the  thought  of  himself  as 
reflected  in  other  minds, — the  dead  friend  who  expected 
so  much  from  him,  and  who  would  be  so  shocked  at  his 
lapse, — the  talk  of  the  general  public  conceived  as 
pitying,  contemptuous,  or  malicious.  He  may  even 
consider  how  he  would  like  to  look  back  to  such  an 
episode  on  his  death-bed. 

Obviously,  this  detailed  development  of  what  is  in- 
cluded in  the  man's  conception  of  himself  as  a  whole 
might  go  on  interminably.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is 
possible  that  it  would  not  be  needed  at  all.    He  might 


190  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

simply  say,  "What!  /  do  such  a  thing?  How  could 
the  thought  ever  have  occurred  to  me?"  In  this  case 
the  mere  concept  of  the  Self  in  its  vague  totality  with- 
out detailed  development  would  be  sufficient  to  pro- 
duce a  decision.  The  thought  of  getting  drunk  at- 
tracts the  man;  but  the  thought  of  his  getting  drunk 
repels,  so  as  to  give  rise  to  instant  rejection  of  the 
suggested  course  of  action. 

Inhibitions  to  voluntary  action.  —  Since  voluntary 
action  is  expressive  of  developed  personality,  it  follows 
that  the  child's  capacity  in  this  respect  is  at  first  weak, 
and  that  ideals,  persistence,  and  character  are  the  re- 
sults of  gradual  development.  Ordinary  observation 
shows  the  truth  of  this  statement,  which  may  be  sup- 
ported by  evidence  of  detailed  observation. 

One  line  of  such  evidence  is  concerned  with  the  so- 
called  inhibitions  of  childhood.  These  curious  block- 
ings of  voluntary  endeavor,  which  are  by  no  means 
entirely  confined  to  childhood,  are  frequently  asso- 
ciated with  emotional  strains.  Meumann  gives  an  ex- 
ample, directly  concerned  with  the  school  life  of  a  child, 
which  is  sufficiently  typical  of  what  occurs  in  some 
instances  to  make  it  of  considerable  educational  impor- 
tance. A  child  entered  a  new  school.  His  former 
teacher,  having  an  antipathy  for  the  thirteen-year-old 
boy,  introduced  him  to  the  new  teacher,  at  the  same 
time  taking  occasion  to  denounce  his  character.  From 
that  moment  on  the  boy  became  depressed  in  spirits, 


VOLUNTARY  ACTION  191 

his  school  work  deteriorated,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year 
he  was  not  promoted.  His  parents  decided  to  send 
him  to  a  third  school,  where  he  was  met  by  the  teacher 
with  kindness  and  confidence,  whereupon  he  became 
one  of  the  best  pupils  of  the  school. 

Importance  of  the  confidence  born  of  success.  — 
Every  teacher  of  experience  knows  of  similar  cases, 
where  pupils  fail  to  do  the  work  they  are  capable  of 
in  one  or  more  branches  of  study  because  of  early 
failure  or  a  wrong  start.  The  maxim  "Nothing  suc- 
ceeds like  success"  is  nowhere  more  apt  than  in  the 
school  work  of  the  child.  This  is  especially  true  for 
some  pupils  in  the  mathematical  branches,  where  the 
supposed  necessity  for  each  child  to  cover  a  certain 
amount  of  ground  soon  takes  these  pupils  beyond  their 
depth,  with  resultant  discouragement  and  failure.  The 
teacher's  influence  on  the  pupil's  intellectual  advance- 
ment cannot  meet  with  success  unless  it  is  accompanied 
by  that  mutual  confidence  between  pupil  and  teacher 
and  the  spirit  of  helpfulness  that  makes  for  encourage- 
ment. 

Suggestibility  of  children.  —  Reference  has  already 
been  made  to  the  fact  that  children  are  more  suggesti- 
ble than  adults — a  natural  consequence  of  their  lack 
of  experience  and  of  ideational  control.  The  child's 
actions  are  determined  by  the  situations  in  which  he 
finds  himself,  and  especially  by  the  influence  of  older 
persons.  A  question,  a  gesture  or  a  glance  is  frequently 
all  that  is  necessary  to  bring  about  a  certain  response. 


192  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

Teachers  know  how  easy  it  is  to  evoke  a  wrong  answer 
from  an  entire  class  by  means  of  a  suggestive  question. 
The  increased  suggestibility  due  to  large  numbers 
meeting  together  is  especially  characteristic  of  school 
conditions.  In  this  way  arise  school  traditions  and 
that  vague  but  highly  important  feature  of  every  school 
which  we  refer  to  as  the  "spirit  of  the  school." 

Importance  of  training  character.  —  In  view  of  this 
susceptibility  of  the  child,  the  influence  of  the  teacher 
and  the  parent  may  become  almost  immeasurable,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  task  of  training  character  becomes 
one  that  involves  the  gravest  difficulties  and  calls  for 
the  highest  wisdom  and  skill.  As  Thorndike  has  point- 
ed out:  "Morality  is  more  susceptible  than  intellect  to 
environmental  influences.  Moral  traits  are  more 
often  matters  of  the  direction  of  capacities  and  the 
creation  of  desires  and  aversions.  Over  them  their  edu- 
cation has  greater  sway,  though  school  education,  be- 
cause of  the  peculiar  narrowness  of  the  life  of  the 
school-room,  has  so  far  done  little  for  any  save  the 
intellectual  virtues." 

The  great  difficulty  in  securing  healthy  development 
of  character  comes  from  the  fact  that  the  possibility 
of  greatly  influencing  the  child's  behavior  comes  from 
a  weakness  of  the  child's  character.  The  child  must 
be  taught  to  think  for  himself  and  develop  independent 
judgment.  This  necessity  is  as  great  in  the  moral  as 
in  the  intellectual  sphere.    How  to  develop  this  ini- 


VOLUNTARY  ACTION  193 

tiative,  and  at  the  same  time  not  lose  the  opportunity 
of  molding  him  in  the  right  way  during  the  plastic 
period,  calls  for  the  highest  wisdom  at  our  disposal. 

Training  the  will  dependent  on  habit.  —  Training 
the  will  means,  fundamentally,  developing  habits  of 
action  that  conform  to  the  best  ideals  of  society.  As 
we  have  seen,  the  "will"  is  powerless  unless  it  has  at  its 
disposal  either  instinctive  or  habitual  modes  of  action 
with  which  it  may  work.  It  is  true  that  under  the 
stress  of  emotional  appeal,  as  in  the  case  of  religious 
revivals,  revolutionary  changes  may  be  made  in  a  per- 
son's desires.  But,  as  religious  leaders  well  know,  the 
effect  of  such  conversions  is  temporary  unless  steps 
are  at  once  taken  to  form  a  new  group  of  habits  con- 
forming to  the  new  ideas.  This  is  the  real  reason 
why  so  few  ideals  are  ever  realized.  It  is  compara- 
tively easy  for  the  school  to  create  ideals  through  the 
influence  of  biography,  literature,  history,  or  indeed 
any  of  the  subjects  of  the  curriculum.  The  difficulty 
comes  from  the  necessity  of  joining  these  to  action, 
and  this  can  be  accomplished  only  through  the  slow  and 
often  painful  task  of  habit  formation. 

References 

Angell,  J.  R.     Psychology.     Chapters  XX— XXII. 

(Holt,  1908.) 
Judd,  C.  H.    Psychology.    Chapter  XV.    (Ginn,  1917.) 


194       PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

Pillsbury,  W.  B.    Essentials  of  Psychology.    Chapter 

XIII.     (Macmillan,  1911.) 
Stout,  G.  F.    Manual  of  Psychology.    Chapter  X. 

(University  Tutorial  Press,  1915.) 


CHAPTER  XII 
LEARNING 

Learning  of  various  kinds.  —  The  study  we  have 
made  up  to  this  point  cannot  fail  to  have  shown  that 
what  we  call  "learning"  in  every-day  life  consists  of 
many  different  psychological  processes  variously  com- 
bined. It  is  true  that  all  learning,  when  viewed  from 
the  standpoint  of  what  goes  on  in  the  nervous  system, 
is  simply  a  process  of  forming  connections,  that  is,  of 
the  organization  of  sensori-motor  tracts;  but,  viewed 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  accompanying  mental 
processes,  there  are  many  kinds  of  learning. 

Perceptual  learning.  —  One  of  the  simplest  kinds  of 
learning,  psychologically  considered,  is  that  which  takes 
place  in  perceptual  development.  This  is  that  funda- 
mental process  of  learning  by  means  of  which  we 
come  to  know  the  world  of  objects  with  which  we 
are  surrounded.  From  time  to  time  new  objects  are 
met  with  in  our  experience,  but  most  of  these  objects 
are  learned  in  some  sense  early  in  life,  and  it  is  only 
as  they  become  better  observed  and  their  characteris- 
tics better  analyzed  that  it  can  be  said  that  any  per- 
ceptual learning  takes  place  in  adult  life.  In  these 
cases  the  learning  usually  takes  place  so  gradually  and 

195 


196 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


so  unconsciously  that  it  is  seldom  possible  to  describe 
the  process  in  detail. 

Perceptual  learning  in  the  case  of  an  illusion.  — 
Judd's  investigation  of  the  effects  of  practice  on  the 
perception  of  the  Muller-Lyer  illusion  affords  a  useful 
illustration  of  this  point.  Here  we  have  a  case  of  per- 
ceptual learning  that  takes  place  under  experimental 


s    §  a 


Fig.  24.    Curve  showing  effect  of  practice  with  the  Muller-Lyer 
illusion.      (After   Judd.) 

conditions  and  in  which  many  of  the  factors  of  the 
process  have  been  analyzed  and  described.  (See  page 
100.)  Fig.  24  shows  the  effects  of  practice  on  the  per- 
ception of  this  illusion  under  the  conditions  already 
described  in  an  earlier  chapter.  In  the  experiment,  the 
length  of  the  standard  line,  that  is,  of  the  part  of  the 
figure  that  remained  constant,  was  54  centimeters  long. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  experiment  the  subject  whose 
"curve  of  learning"  is  given  perceived  the  two  hori- 


LEARNING  197 

zontal  lines  of  the  figures  as  equal,  when  the  overesti- 
mated line  was  only  between  44  and  45  centimeters  in 
length.  At  the  end  of  the  980  trials,  however,  the  two 
lines  appeared  equal  when  they  were  actually  equal  or 
approximately  so.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  improve- 
ment that  takes  place  is  not  uniform,  but  varies  from 
period  to  period,  and  toward  the  latter  part  of  the 
series  of  trials  is  very  rapid. 

Some  description  can  be  given  of  the  way  in  which 
the  learning  process  shown  by  the  curve  takes  place. 
At  first  the  subject  perceives  the  figure  as  a  whole  in 
which  the  various  lines  are  combined  in  such  a  way 
as  to  give  rise  to  the  illusory  experience.  Then  begins 
a  process  of  analysis  in  which  the  horizontal  lines  are 
selected  for  especial  observation,  the  oblique  lines 
being  relatively  neglected.  Finally  a  stage  is  reached 
in  which  all  of  the  lines  are  again  combined  or  synthe- 
sized, and  the  whole  figure  takes  on  a  new  interpreta- 
tion or  meaning.  It  will  be  seen  that  fundamentally 
these  processes  of  analysis  and  synthesis  are  processes 
of  attention. 

Learning  through  observation.  —  Processes  of  learn- 
ing similar  to  this  must  be  going  on  continually  in  the 
early  life  of  the  child  and  to  some  degree  in  that 
of  the  adult.  Probably  the  child's  early  sensory  ex- 
periences are  presented  to  him  in  a  more  or  less  con- 
fused jumble,  and  he  gradually  achieves  his  world  of 
objects  through  such  processes  of  perceptual  develop- 
ment, breaking  this  vague  mass  of  experience  into  more 


198  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

clearly  observed  parts  and  putting  them  together  again 
in  such  a  way  as  to  give  them  meanings  more  and 
more  in  agreement  with  the  demands  of  experience. 
Even  in  adult  life  the  process  continues.  Objects  are 
analyzed  into  their  elements,  they  are  observed  from 
new  points  of  view  and  are  seen  in  new  lights,  when- 
ever they  are  put  to  uses  different  from  the  ordinary, 
as,  for  example,  when  it  is  necessary  to  draw  them.  This 
is  especially  true  in  the  case  of  scientific  observation 
of  objects,  such  as  when  new  and  hitherto  unsuspected 
features  are  revealed  with  the  aid  of  the  microscope. 

Motor  processes  in  perceptual  learning.  —  But  this 
account  of  perceptual  learning  tells  only  one  side  of 
the  story.  Side  by  side  with  these  sensory  processes 
of  learning,  new  modes  of  response  are  continually 
coming  into  play.  In  other  words,  habits  are  being 
formed.  Even  in  the  case  of  the  illusion  mentioned 
above,  new  habits  of  eye  movement  are  developed,  as 
has  already  been  shown.  The  motor  and  sensory 
learning  are  in  reality  the  two  sides  of  the  same 
process;  they  are  separated  only  for  purposes  of  de- 
scription. In  some  cases  we  are  able  to  observe  the 
sensory  processes  more  clearly,  and  in  others  the  motor 
processes. 

Trial-and-error  learning.  —  The  development  of  new 
ways  of  acting  in  connection  with  perceptual  experi- 
ences is  usually  referred  to  as  the  "trial-and-error" 
method  of  learning,  because  of  the  relatively  uncon- 
scious way  in  which  it  goes  forward  and  because  the 


LEARNING  199 

improvement  takes  place  in  an  apparently  hit-or-miss 
fashion.  The  trial-and-error  method  of  learning  is  well 
illustrated  in  much  of  the  behavior  of  the  lower  ani- 
mals. If  a  cat,  for  example,  is  placed  in  a  box  with 
a  door  in  its  side  fastened  by  a  simple  latch,  and  food 
is  placed  on  the  outside  of  the  box,  the  cat  will  rush 
about,  scratch  and  bite  at  the  sides  of  the  box.  Its 
reactions  are  of  a  random  sort,  including  most  of  its 
stock  of  instinctive  and  habitual  actions.  In  the 
course  of  a  comparatively  long  time  the  animal  will 
succeed,  apparently  by  accident,  in  making  the  move- 
ment necessary  to  open  the  door  and  escape.  If  re- 
placed, the  cat  goes  through  virtually  the  same  per- 
formance; but  if  placed  again  and  again  in  the  box, 
the  time  required  for  it  to  escape  is  gradually  reduced, 
and  finally  it  learns  to  make  the  appropriate  movement 
at  once  without  any  preliminary  useless  movements. 
This  process,  in  which  the  useless  movements  become 
gradually  eliminated  and  the  successful  movements 
preserved,  is  typical  of  the  way  in  which  much  of  man's 
learning  to  make  responses  to  new  situations  takes 
place.  In  the  case  of  man,  however,  this  type  of  learn- 
ing is  usually  complicated  to  some  degree  with  other 
kinds  of  learning,  which  will  be  described  later. 

Human  learning  complex.  —  Random  movements, 
many  of  which  are  useless  for  the  purpose,  the  grad- 
ual disappearance  of  the  useless  movements,  and  the 
"stamping  in"  of  the  successful  reactions  are  typical  of 
such  human  learning  as  riding  a  bicycle,  playing  golf, 


200 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


or  writing.  An  easily  performed  experiment  that  will 
illustrate  this  type  of  learning  is  that  of  mirror-draw- 
ing. Place  a  drawing,  such  as  that  of  a  six-pointed 
star,  in  front  of  a  mirror,  and  attempt  to  trace  the 
lines  of  the  star  while  looking  at  the  hand  and  draw- 
ing as  they  appear  in  the  mirror.    A  screen  should  be 


Fig.  25.     Curves  of  learning  in  mirror  drawing.    (After  Starch.) 


used  to  shield  the  hand  and  drawing  from  direct  view. 
The  person  making  the  drawing  should  return  to  the 
line  he  is  attempting  to  trace  as  soon  as  the  pencil  is 
found  to  leave  it.  Here  we  have  a  situation  that  is  so 
novel  as  to  require  the  learning  of  a  new  habit  to  meet 
it.  No  mere  effort  of  will  can  bring  about  the  success- 
ful action.     It  must  be  learned  by  a  gradual  process 


LEARNING  201 

in  which  all  of  the  features  of  trial-and-error  learning 
already  mentioned  are  present.  Fig.  25  shows  the  re- 
sults of  training  as  measured  both  in  time  and  errors 
made  during  a  long  period  of  practice.  The  star  in  the 
corner  of  the  figure  gives  an  illustration  of  the  inco- 
ordinated  movements  necessary  at  an  early  stage  of 
practice. 

Very  little  of  man's  learning  can  be  described  as 
being  based  on  a  method  of  pure  trial  and  error,  in 
which  the  progress  takes  place,  as  it  were,  accidentally 
or  at  least  without  conscious  direction.  Thus  in  learn- 
ing to  play  golf  few  persons,  even  when  beginning  to 
play  the  game,  simply  swing  at  the  ball  with  the  club 
in  a  hit-or-miss  fashion,  keeping  it  up  until  the  efforts 
are  crowned  with  success.  The  usual  procedure  is 
rather  to  begin  under  instruction  from  an  expert  or 
from  one  who  at  least  knows  something  of  the  way  in 
which  the  strokes  should  be  made.  Under  these  condi- 
tions the  learning  is  more  than  a  mere  series  of  total 
responses  to  a  gross  situation.  The  situation  is  an- 
alyzed into  component  elements  and  corresponding 
movements.  Thus  one  is  instructed  to  keep  one's  eye 
on  the  ball  until  after  it  has  left  the  club,  to  place 
the  feet  and  body  in  a  certain  position  with  reference 
to  the  ball  and  its  line  of  flight,  to  raise  and  lower  the 
club  in  a  particular  manner,  etc.  Each  one  of  these 
actions  must  be  attended  to  more  or  less  separately 
and  in  a  certain  order,  and  yet  be  combined  into  a  co- 
ordinated series  of  acts.     Even  under  these  circum- 


202  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

stances,  however,  the  learning  of  the  separate  responses 
and  the  fitting  of  them  together  will  require  much  of 
the  purely  trial-and-error  method  of  learning. 

Ideational  learning.  —  In  learning  of  this  kind  the 
analysis  is  ideational.  The  ideas  in  the  instructions 
are  worked  out  in  advance  of  the  actual  performance 
of  the  movements.  The  selected  elements,  with  their 
responses,  are  reviewed  mentally,  with  the  result  that 
a  short  cut  is  made  in  the  learning.  Often,  when  the 
constituent  elements  of  the  situation  and  the  motor 
response  are  already  well  known,  the  imparting  of 
ideas  through  instruction  may  save  the  learner  from 
all  necessity  of  trial  and  error  and  the  performance 
may  be  correct  the  first  time  it  is  tried.  Thus,  to 
take  a  simple  example,  one  may  learn  from  a  police- 
man, when  visiting  a  strange  place,  the  way  to  the 
post-office  and  direct  his  steps  successfully  on  the  basis 
of  the  ideas  acquired. 

Illustration  of  complex  human  learning.  —  The 
learning  of  complex  activities  involving  trial-and- 
error,  analysis,  and  ideational  guidance  has  been 
made  the  subject  of  considerable  psychological  investi- 
gation. One  of  the  most  enlightening  of  these  studies 
is  that  made  by  Bryan  and  Harter  on  learning  teleg- 
raphy. Learning  telegraphy  is  like  learning  a  new  lan- 
guage and  translating  it  into  the  native  tongue  as  far 
as  the  receiving  of  messages  is  concerned.  In  the 
sending  of  messages  the  motor  processes  of  hand  and 
arm  in  pressing  the  key  are  analogous  to  the  oral  ex- 


LEARNING  203 

pression  of  ordinary  language,  or  still  more  nearly  an- 
alogous to  handwriting  movements,  made  in  response 
to  dictation.  Let  us  consider  the  sending  side  of  the 
learning  of  telegraphy  first.  Bryan  and  Harter  found 
that  the  learning  takes  place  by  the  acquirement  of 
habits,  some  simple  and  others  complex,  or,  as  they 
put  it,  lower  and  higher  orders  of  habits.  The  begin- 
ner starts  by  learning  the  alphabet  of  dots  and  dashes, 
slowly  spelling  out  each  word  as  he  presses  the  key 
in  the  appropriate  way.  The  next  stage  is  reached 
when  he  is  able  to  associate  the  movements  necessary 
to  send  entire  words  in  a  unitary  series,  just  as  we  do 
in  speaking.  The  letters  and  their  corresponding 
movements  are  no  longer  attended  to  separately,  but 
the  dots  and  dashes  as  heard  and  the  movements  nec- 
essary to  make  them  are  run  together  into  a  single 
unit.  Such  habits  are  habits  of  a  higher  order  than 
those  that  the  beginner  first  learned.  Progress  con- 
tinues until  words,  especially  those  that  frequently 
occur  together,  are  combined  into  still  larger  units, 
constituting  a  third  and  still  higher  order  of  habits. 
The  upper  curve  of  Fig.  26  shows  the  gradual  improve- 
ment in  sending,  relatively  rapid  at  first  and  slow  to- 
wards the  end,  and  fluctuating  from  period  to  period. 
Learning  to  send  telegraphic  messages  is  at  first 
easier  than  learning  to  receive,  though  in  the  long  run 
the  capacity  for  receiving  outstrips  that  for  sending. 
In  sending,  the  operator  looks  ahead  as  we  do  in  read- 
ing, and  at  the  same  time  determines  the  rate  at  his 


204 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


own  convenience.  In  receiving,  however,  looking  ahead 
has  to  depend  entirely  on  the  imagination,  and  it  is 
found  that  mistakes  are  made  in  this  way.  Accord- 
ingly the  expert  telegrapher,  in  receiving,  not  only  does 
not  look  forward,  but  actually  lets  the  message  get 
ahead  of  his  receiving.    When  writing  or  typewriting 


4 

Weeks  of  Practice 
8          12          16          20          24          28         32          36        40 

I 

J             I             1             l             I     '       I 

i     i 

140 
130 

- 

Sen<ft*TVg,».'-  -^     ** 

120 

0> 

"Siio 

- 

|ioo 

t  90 

- 

a.  80 
*■    70 
?   60 
3  50 
40 

- 

/     Slowest  Main  Line  Hate    / 

- 

30 

- 

20 

-    1 

10 

-// 

Fig.  26.    Curves  of  learning  to  send  and  receive  telegraphic  mes- 
sages.    (After  Bryan  and  Harter.) 

the  message,  he  waits  until  he  is  from  six  to  ten  words 
behind  the  instrument  before  beginning  to  transcribe 
the  message.  The  units  of  perception  are  so  large 
that  he  is  able  to  do  this,  and  the  liability  to  make 
mistakes  is  lessened.  The  lower  curve  of  Fig.  26  shows 
the  curve  of  learning  for  receiving  telegraphic  mes- 
sages. 

Plateaus  in  the   learning  curve.  —  This   curve   is 
especially  interesting  because  of  certain  features  com- 


LEARNING  205 

mon  to  many  learning  curves  in  other  investigations 
but  not  present  in  the  learning  curve  for  sending  mes- 
sages. It  will  be  seen  that,  besides  the  general  fea- 
tures noted  above  in  connection  with  the  curve  of 
sending,  there  is  a  point  near  the  middle  of  the  curve 
where  progress  ceases  for  some  time,  after  which  a 
sudden  improvement  takes  places.  Such  parts  of  learn- 
ing curves,  indicating  no  gain  and  suddenly  followed  by 
rapid  improvement,  have  been  designated  "plateaus." 
Such  periods  of  depression  in  the  various  forms  of 
school-room  learning  can  be  testified  to  in  the  experi- 
ence of  most  pupils  and  teachers.  In  the  learning  of 
any  subject  progress  is  relatively  rapid  at  first,  but 
there  frequently  comes  a  time  of  stagnation  with  most 
discouraging  results  for  all  concerned.  With  persistent 
application  this  period  passes  over  to  one  of  rapid 
progress  comparable  to  that  with  which  the  learning 
began.  The  question  of  interest  is,  whether  such  pe- 
riods of  lack  of  progress  are  necessary  and  to  what  they 
are  due.  The  first  obvious  suggestion  in  answer  to 
the  latter  question  is  that  the  retarded  progress  is  due 
to  loss  of  interest.  But,  while  this  may  in  some  cases 
be  a  factor,  the  plateau  frequently  occurs  without  any 
such  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  learner,  and  without 
any  feeling  of  renewed  interest  at  the  point  at  which 
the  sudden  gain  makes  its  appearance.  Most  investi- 
gators agree  that  the  latter  point  is  reached  when  new 
methods  begin  to  be  used.  The  plateau  represents  a 
point  where  the  limit  of  progress  has  been  made  until 


206 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


some  new  mode  of  attack  upon  the  situation  has  been 
devised  or  hit  upon. 

Explanation  of  the  plateau.  —  In  the  special  case 
before  us  Bryan  and  Harter  have  explained  the  plateau 
period  in  a  manner  that  can  be  clearly  understood  by 
a  reference  to  Fig.  27.  This  figure  gives  separate  curves 


Fig.  27.  Separate  curves  of  learning  for  letters,  words,  and  con- 
iected  discourse  in  receiving  telegraphic  messages.  The  uppermost 
curve  is  the  same  as  the  lower  curve  in  Fig.  26.  (After  Bryan  and 
Harter.) 


for  the  progress  in  each  of  the  three  orders  of  habits 
referred  to  above.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  learning 
for  words  and  letters  reached  the  limit  of  improvement 
at  about  the  time  that  the  learning  for  connected  dis- 
course was  recovering  from  the  plateau  period.  The 
explanation  seems  to  be,  therefore,  that  the  plateau 
represents  a  period  of  only  apparent  lack  of  progress — 


LEARNING  207 

a  period  in  which  habits  of  the  lower  order  are  being 
perfected — after  which  these  habits  are  made  available 
for  the  rapid  progress  in  the  higher  order  of  habits. 
The  plateau  period  turns  out  to  be  a  necessary  period 
of  preparation  for  a  fresh  start  according  to  a  new 
method  through  the  incorporation  of  the  lower  orders 
of  habit  into  that  of  the  higher. 

Learning  through  association.  —  A  very  great  deal 
if  not  most  of  the  learning  of  the  school-room  consists 
in  memory  of  the  associative  type.  This  type  of  learn- 
ing was  among  the  first  of  psychological  processes  to 
be  investigated  by  experimental  methods,  and  much 
light  has  been  thrown  on  the  subject  by  the  results 
of  this  experimental  work. 

The  earliest  work  in  this  field  was  done  by  Ebbing- 
haus,  a  German  psychologist,  who  used  nonsense  syl- 
lables as  materials  for  learning.  These  nonsense  syl- 
lables were  made  up  of  vowels  and  consonants  in  such 
a  way  as  to  make  pronounceable  words,  but  so  as  to 
have  no  meanings  (for  example,  zej,  tos,  pern).  The 
advantage  of  the  use  of  such  words  is  that  the  learning 
of  one  series  of  a  certain  number  of  nonsense  syllables 
under  certain  conditions  may  be  directly  compared 
with  the  learning  of  a  second  series  of  the  same  length 
under  different  conditions.  Since  the  words  are  de- 
void of  meaning,  the  learning  process  is  reduced  to 
the  purely  mechanical  association  of  each  word  with 
the  others  of  the  series. 

Effects  of  repetition.  —  One  of  the  problems  that 


208  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

Ebbinghaus  set  himself  was  to  discover  the  effects  of 
different  numbers  of  repetitions  on  the  amount  re- 
membered. He  learned  one  series  of  sixteen  syllables 
so  that  it  could  be  said  once  without  mistakes.  A  sec- 
ond series  was  learned  in  the  same  way  and  then  re- 
peated eight  additional  times.  Still  other  series  of  the 
same  length  were  repeated  sixteen,  twenty-four,  up  to 
sixty-four  times  after  they  were  just  learned.  He 
found  in  this  way  that  each  repetition  after  the  first 
learning  had  practically  the  same  effect,  resulting  in 
a  saving  in  the  time  for  relearning  twenty-four  hours 
afterward  of  about  twelve  seconds  per  repetition.  The 
following  table  gives  the  results  in  detail: 


Time 

for 

Time  Saved 

epetitions 

Relearning 

Time  Saved 

per  Syllable 

0 

1270  seconds 

8 

1167 

ft 

103  seconds 

12.9  seconds 

16 

1078 

" 

192 

ft 

12.0       " 

24 

975 

ft 

295 

« 

12.3       " 

32 

863 

ft 

407 

m 

12.7       " 

42 

697 

ft 

573 

« 

13.6       " 

53 

585 

<( 

685 

« 

12.9       " 

64 

454 

(( 

816 

u 

12.8       " 

By  a  similar  method  it  was  found  that  the  rate  of 
forgetting  is  very  rapid  at  first,  then  decreases,  and 
finally  a  small  amount  remains  that  is  remembered 
almost  indefinitely. 

Learning  beyond  the  threshold.  —  As  stated  in  the 
last  paragraph,  Ebbinghaus  regarded  a  series  of  non- 
sense syllables  as  having  been  learned  when  it  could 
be  repeated  once  without  mistakes.    We  may  call  the 


LEARNING  209 

point  in  the  learning  process  where  this  can  be  done 
the  threshold.  While  the  method  used  by  Ebbinghaus 
is  well  adapted  to  his  experimental  purposes,  it  is  easy 
to  see  that  learning  merely  to  the  threshold  does  not 
meet  the  requirements  of  most  school  purposes. 
Ebbinghaus  found  that  a  very  large  part  of  what  he 
had  learned  in  this  way  was  forgotten  one  hour  after- 
ward. Hence  the  necessity  that  arises  of  carrying  the 
learning  beyond  the  threshold  so  as  to  forestall  the 
effects  of  forgetting.  The  youthful  mind  is  apt  to 
assume  that  permanent  results  have  been  attained  long 
before  there  is  sufficient  warrant  for  thinking  so.  How 
much  repetition  is  necessary  in  any  particular  instance 
is,  of  course,  difficult  to  determine.  It  will  differ  with 
the  individual  learner,  the  subject  of  study,  and  the 
degree  of  permanence  necessary.  Every  student,  how- 
ever, should  know  the  importance  of  this  principle  and 
seek  to  learn  from  his  own  experience  how  to  put  it 
into  effect. 

The  will  to  remember.  —  It  is  obvious  that  the 
learning  process  is  made  easier  by  concentrating  the 
attention  on  the  material  to  be  learned.  One  rule, 
therefore,  for  easy  and  efficient  learning  is  that  the 
learner  should  be  interested  in  what  he  is  doing.  It  is 
too  much  to  expect  that  the  learner  should  always  be 
interested  in  the  material  to  be  learned  for  its  own 
sake.  No  one  could  be  interested,  for  example,  in  the 
learning  of  nonsense  syllables  simply  for  their  own 
sake.     Where  interest  is  not  present  immediately,  it 


210  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

becomes  necessary  to  introduce  motives  that  lie  out- 
side the  material  itself — the  desire  to  excel,  to  please 
others,  or  other  factors  that  we  have  found  to  be  char- 
acteristic of  voluntary  attention.  Striking  evidence  of 
the  effect  of  lack  of  concentration  in  learning  may 
sometimes  be  obtained  from  laboratory  work  in 
memory.  A  number  of  experimenters  have  reported, 
for  example,  that  they  have  repeated  a  series  of  non- 
sense syllables  to  a  learner  a  sufficient  number  of  times 
for  the  latter  to  memorize  them,  and  then  the  same 
series  again  to  a  second  learner,  and  still  a  third,  with- 
out being  able  to  remember  the  series  themselves. 
In  such  instances  it  is  probable  that  the  failure  to 
remember  material  that  has  been  so  frequently  re- 
peated by  the  experimenter  is  in  part  due  to  another 
important  factor  in  the  learning  process,  which  may 
be  easily  overlooked  by  the  student  in  actual  practice. 
This  factor  may  be  expressed  by  the  phrase  "the  in- 
tention to  remember."  It  is  found  that  the  learner 
of  a  series  of  nonsense  syllables  remembers  it  much 
better  if  he  has  more  or  less  definitely  before  his  mind 
the  subsequent  testing  that  is  to  take  place.  If  the 
learner  thinks  the  material  is  to  be  learned  for  tem- 
porary purposes  and  is  afterward  tested,  it  is  found 
to  be  less  well  remembered  later  than  when  he  learns 
with  the  expectation  of  being  tested  some  time  after- 
ward, even  though  the  amount  of  time  devoted  to  the 
learning  is  the  same  in  both  cases  and  the  results  are 
similar  for  the  first  learning.    Hence  the  learner  should 


LEARNING  211 

look  ahead  to  the  occasion  when  the  material  being 
learned  is  to  be  used.  Even  when  the  occasion  for  use 
is  not  a  definite  one,  the  anticipation  of  possible  occa- 
sions for  its  use  is  helpful  in  preventing  that  forgetting 
which  is  the  ordinary  outcome  of  those  experiences 
that  seem  to  have  no  significance. 

Using  what  is  learned.  —  The  question  of  actual  use 
of  what  is  learned  is  highly  important  in  connection 
with  learning.  We  know  and  remember  best  what  we 
use  most.  The  recitation,  the  test,  the  examination 
find  much  of  their  justification  because  they  furnish 
not  only  reviews  but  opportunities  for  the  pupil  to 
use  what  has  been  learned.  Where  opportunities  for 
use  do  not  occur  naturally,  they  should  be  sought  for 
and  created.  The  person  who  has  a  great  fund  of 
anecdotes  to  relate  is  the  one  who  is  always  buttonhol- 
ing his  friends  and  telling  his  latest  story. 

Distribution  of  learning  periods.  —  Ebbinghaus 
learned  series  of  nonsense  syllables  by  two  different 
methods,  his  purpose  being  to  determine  whether  it 
is  better  to  learn  the  material  up  to  the  time  it  can 
just  be  recited  and  then  continue  to  repeat  it  for  a 
considerable  period,  or  to  distribute  the  same  amount 
of  time  over  a  number  of  learning  periods  with  in- 
tervals in  between.  A  series  of  syllables  was  learned 
so  that  it  could  be  repeated  correctly  after  17  repeti- 
tions, after  which  51  more  repetitions  were  made  in 
order  to  fix  it  in  memory.  As  a  result  of  these  68 
repetitions  enough  was  remembered  twenty-four  hours 


212  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

later  so  that  the  series  was  relearned  with  7  repetitions. 
A  second  series  of  the  same  length  was  repeated  18, 
13,  and  7  times  on  each  of  three  successive  days.  As 
a  result  of  this  total  number  of  38  repetitions,  only 
5  repetitions  were  necessary  to  relearn  the  series  twen- 
ty-four hours  later.  Hence  the  principle  arises,  which 
has  been  confirmed  by  a  number  of  other  investiga- 
tions both  with  nonsense  and  significant  material,  that 
it  is  better  to  distribute  a  given  amount  of  learning 
time  over  a  number  of  periods  than  to  do  all  of  the 
learning  at  one  time.  This  result  is  not  entirely  due 
to  the  effects  of  fatigue  in  the  longer  period,  for  it  has 
been  shown  to  hold  under  conditions  where  fatigue 
could  not  enter  as  a  factor.  Apparently  what  has  been 
learned  continues  to  become  fixed  even  after  the  con- 
scious attention  to  the  learning  has  ceased — a  phe- 
nomenon very  much  like  that  which  appears  in  con- 
nection with  the  plateau  period  in  the  learning  curve, 
which  has  already  been  described.  The  student  who 
does  all  his  learning  at  one  sitting  fails  to  take  advan- 
tage of  this  unconscious  assimilation. 

Experimental  evidence  needed  of  best  periods  of 
distribution.  —  The  principle  just  discussed  has  an  im- 
portant bearing  upon  the  making  of  school  programs — 
the  number  of  recitations  per  week  for  each  subject 
and  the  length  of  time  over  which  the  study  of  any  one 
subject  should  be  extended.  There  is  some  reason  to 
believe  that  some  of  the  subjects  of  the  high  school, 
which  are  commonly  pursued  for  each  day  in  the  week 


LEARNING  213 

for  a  year  and  then  dropped,  might  be  taught  more 
advantageously  if  given  on  alternate  days  for  a  period 
of  two  years.  Unfortunately,  there  is  no  experimental 
evidence  to  confirm  or  deny  this  view. 

Understanding  what  is  learned.  —  Ebbinghaus 
found  that  he  could  learn  connected  words  that  had 
significance  eight  or  nine  times  as  fast  as  nonsense  ma- 
terial. The  element  of  meaning  is,  therefore,  the  most 
important  single  factor  in  the  learning  process.  To  un- 
derstand the  material  to  be  learned  becomes  the  most 
important  rule  for  learning,  for  two  reasons:  (1)  be- 
cause only  when  it  is  understood  can  it  efficiently  be 
used;  and  (2)  because  the  better  understood  it  is,  the 
more  economically  it  can  be  learned. 

Any  plan  of  procedure,  therefore,  that  leads  to  an 
attitude  of  active  inquiry  as  to  the  bearings  and  sig- 
nificance of  what  is  being  learned  is  found  to  be  fruit- 
ful in  results.  Some  lessons,  for  example,  can  be 
learned  more  easily  if  they  are  first  read  through 
somewhat  hastily  for  the  sake  of  getting  one's  general 
bearings.  In  the  later  more  thorough  study  each  de- 
tail is  seen  in  its  proper  setting  and  is  more  easily 
understood  and  remembered. 

Again,  most  lessons  are  in  reality  composed  of  series 
of  problems  with  their  solutions.  They  present  situa- 
tions that  demand  the  kind  of  treatment  described 
in  the  chapter  on  "Thinking."  Many  students  fail 
to  realize  this  aspect  of  the  study  problem  in  connec- 
tion with  subjects  other  than  mathematics.     If  the 


214  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

student  will  ask  himself  what  problem  the'  author  of 
the  text  is  raising  as  he  proceeds  in  his  work,  and  will 
think  out  the  solution  to  the  problem  along  with  the 
author,  the  task  of  remembering  will  become  relatively 
easy.  Better  still,  if  he  can  raise  other  problems  sug- 
gested by  those  of  the  book,  and  can  solve  them  from 
his  own  experience  or  by  going  to  other  sources  of 
information,  study  will  become  both  easy  and  profit- 
able. 

Learning  by  wholes  and  parts.  —  Where  material  is 
to  be  learned  verbatim  it  is  possible  to  take  either  one 
of  two  methods.  In  the  first  place,  it  may  be  learned 
by  repeating  over  and  over  parts  of  the  material  until 
each  part  is  thoroughly  learned,  and  then  proceeding 
to  learn  the  next  part  in  a  similar  manner.  In  learn- 
ing poetry,  for  example,  the  part  chosen  may  be  a  sin- 
gle line.  The  second  method  is  that  in  which  the 
learner  proceeds  by  reading  over  the  entire  selection 
and  then  repeating  in  the  same  way  until  it  is  learned. 
Pupils  naturally  follow  one  or  the  other  of  these  two 
methods,  usually  the  former,  when  left  to  themselves. 

Careful  experiments  have  shown,  however,  that  the 
method  of  learning  by  parts  is  less  economical  than 
that  of  learning  by  wholes.  Various  reasons  may  be 
offered  for  the  superiority  of  the  latter  method.  In  the 
first  place,  the  material  that  is  read  over  in  its  entirety 
is  better  understood  than  when  attacked  in  parts,  thus 
making  the  learning  less  mechanical  and  giving  the 
benefits  that  we  have  seen  are  to  be  derived  from 


LEARNING  215 

forming  thought  connections.  Again,  in  learning  by- 
parts  the  associations  set  up  are  in  part  incorrect,  and 
have  to  be  in  time  broken  up.  Thus,  in  learning  line 
by  line  the  first  lines  of  Longfellow's  "Hymn  of  Life," 

Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us, 
We  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 

an  association  is  set  up  between  "us"  and  "lives"  in- 
stead of  between  "us"  and  "we."  Eventually  the 
former  association  must  be  broken  up  and  the  latter 
established. 

However,  the  method  of  learning  by  wholes  must  not 
be  pushed  to  the  extreme  of  repeating  the  entire  selec- 
tion over  and  over  again  merely  because  a  few  more 
difficult  parts  are  not  yet  thoroughly  learned.  These 
more  difficult  portions  should  be  learned  separately. 
It  is  also  evident  that  some  selections  may  be  too  long 
to  be  learned  in  their  whole  length.  In  such  cases  the 
material  may  be  broken  up  into  smaller  wholes,  al- 
though it  is  probably  always  an  advantage  to  read  the 
entire  selection  at  least  once  for  the  sake  of  the  aid 
such  procedure  gives  to  understanding  the  thought. 

The  method  of  learning  by  wholes  is  not  always  ad- 
vantageous in  the  case  of  those  who  have  been  used 
to  learning  by  the  other  method.  In  changing  from 
one  method  to  the  other,  in  some  cases  there  seems  to 
be  some  loss;  but  it  is  believed  that  with  practice 
such  individuals  will  find  the  whole  method  more 
effective.    Even  though  there  may  be  in  some  individ- 


216        PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

uals  a  marked  preference  for  the  part  method,  the 
experimental  evidence  shows  clearly  that  for  the  ma- 
jority of  individuals  the  method  of  learning  by  wholes 
is  much  superior. 

Modes  of  impression  and  recall.  —  Still  another 
problem  of  memory  concerns  the  relation  between  the 
various  modes  of  recall  and  the  modes  of  impression. 
Virtually  all  of  the  material  to  be  learned  in  connec- 
tion with  school  work  may  be  made  through  visual  or 
auditory  or  kinesthetic  impressions,  or  by  two  or  all 
of  them  combined.  Now,  in  recalling,  the  form  of 
imagery  preferred  varies  from  one  individual  to  an- 
other. It  has  generally  been  held  that  a  person  who 
recalls  by  preference  in  the  form  of  visual  imagery 
will,  for  that  reason,  remember  more  effectively  if  the 
original  learning  is  made  through  visual  impressions. 
This  view  of  the  matter  has  not  been  confirmed  ex- 
perimentally. It  appears  rather  that  any  sort  of  orig- 
inal impression  may  usually  be  transferred  easily  into 
the  preferred  form  of  imagery  for  purposes  of  recall. 
In  cases  where  ordinary  methods  do  not  bring  the  de- 
sired results,  however,  it  is  always  to  be  suspected  that 
very  decided  preferences  for  one-sided  forms  of  im- 
agery are  present,  and  methods  of  presentation  should 
be  varied  to  suit  the  individual  case. 

One  pedagogical  device  for  obviating  the  difficulty 
arising  from  individual  differences  where  pupils  are 
taught  in  classes  is  the  method  of  so-called  "multiple- 
sense  appeal."    By  this  method  all  material  is  learned 


LEARNING  217 

through  as  many  sense  avenues  as  possible.  In  this 
way  pupils  may  have  their  preferences  allowed  for 
in  at  least  a  part  of  the  instruction.  At  the  same  time, 
the  multiplicity  of  association  creates  a  greater  possi- 
bility of  successful  recall.  In  this  connection  it  may 
be  well  to  repeat  that  the  various  types  of  mental 
imagery  may  be  cultivated,  and  in  special  cases  this 
form  of  training  may  be  resorted  to.  The  experimen- 
tal evidence  seems  to  show  that  the  visual  form  of 
recall  is  more  accurate  but  less  rapid  than  the  auditory. 
The  principle  of  recall.  —  As  soon  as  any  material 
that  is  being  studied  begins  to  be  fairly  well  learned, 
it  is  advantageous  to  try  to  recall  it  without  the  aid  of 
the  book.  The  recall  of  the  subject  matter  of  study 
under  these  conditions  helps  to  show  where  the  great- 
est emphasis  should  be  put  on  the  subsequent  learning. 
The  effort  required  to  recall  makes  for  concentration 
and  affords  an  opportunity  for  the  student  to  anticipate 
how  his  mind  will  work  when  the  teacher  questions 
him  or  he  is  otherwise  tested.  Under  such  circum- 
stances associative  aids  are  likely  to  be  formed  that 
will  be  found  to  be  of  much  value  later  on. 

References 

Freeman,  F.  N.    How  Children  Learn.    Chapter  III. 

(Houghton  Mifflin,  1917.) 
Starch,  D.     Educational  Psychology.     Chapters  III, 

IV,  V,  VI.     (Macmillan,  1919.) 


218  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

Thorndike,  E.  L.  Individuality.  (Houghton  Mifflin, 
1911.)  Educational  Psychology  (Briefer  Course), 
Chapters  XXI-XXVII.  (Teachers  College,  Co^ 
lumbia  University,  1914.) 


CHAPTER  XIII 
TRANSFER  OF  TRAINING 

The  problem  of  formal  training.  —  A  problem  of 
considerable  importance  to  educational  theory  and 
practice  is  raised  when  one  asks  the  question:  "Does 
the  increased  efficiency  caused  by  learning  in  one  sub- 
ject give  increased  efficiency  in  others?"  For  example, 
does  the  study  of  Latin  merely  give  knowledge  of  Latin, 
or  does  it  train  the  mind  so  that  it  has  an  increased 
capacity  for  other  subjects  as  well? 

One  view  is  that  all  training  is  general.  —  Two 
opposed  views  have  been  held  in  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion. According  to  one  view,  all  learning  is  general 
in  its  effects.  The  mind  is  trained  by  exercise,  just 
as  is  the  body;  or,  if  not  the  mind  as  a  whole,  certain 
general  capacities  of  the  mind,  such  as  memory 
or  observation  or  reasoning.  Probably  most  persons 
assume  that  the  pursuit  of  any  school  subject  re- 
sults in  training  the  mind  as  well  as  in  giving  the  pupil 
information  about  that  particular  subject.  The  claim 
is  often  made  that  Latin  is  good  discipline,  that  nature 
study  cultivates  powers  of  observation,  that  geometry 
develops  reasoning  ability,  the  idea  in  each  case  being 
that  the  effects  of  the  learning  are  not  limited  to  the 
particular  study,  but  are  general. 

219 


220  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

The  view  that  training  is  specific.  —  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  those  who  hold  that  all  learning  is 
specific  in  its  results,  that  is,  it  is  confined  in  its  effects 
to  the  particular  kind  of  situation  in  which  it  was 
learned.  Latin  trains  the  mind  for  things  other  than 
Latin  only  in  so  far  as  Latin  is  related  to  these  other 
things — as,  for  example,  English.  The  training  of 
observation  in  nature  study  increases  capacity  of  ob- 
servation for  natural  objects,  but  not  for  other  things, 
such  as  people's  faces  or  pictures.  While  a  person 
may  be  trained  by  the  study  of  geometry  to  reason 
mathematically,  he  will  reason  no  better  on  that  ac- 
count in  matters  of  politics.  Ordinary  observation 
shows  that  such  capacities  are  not  general.  Thus, 
a  person  may  be  neat  in  dress,  but  not  neat  in  other 
respects;  he  may  have  a  good  memory  for  faces,  but 
a  poor  memory  for  names;  one  may  be  accurate  and 
precise  in  the  use  of  English,  but  quite  the  reverse  in 
mathematics.  In  short,  there  is  reason  to  believe  as 
has  been  stated  by  Thorndike,  that  "training  the  mind 
means  the  development  of  thousands  of  particular 
independent  capacities,  the  formation  of  countless 
particular  habits." 

Can  memory  be  trained  ?  —  Take  the  case  of  mem- 
ory. Is  it  true  that  memory  in  general  can  be  trained 
by  practice?  William  James  attacked  this  problem  in 
what  was  at  that  time  a  novel  manner.  Since  memory 
is  primarily  a  matter  of  retention,  he  held  that  it  is 
dependent  upon  the  original  plasticity  of  the  nervous 


TRANSFER  OF  TRAINING  221 

system,  and  therefore  that  it  could  not  be  improved 
by  practice.  James  explained  those  cases  in  which 
improvement  of  memory  by  means  of  practice  seems 
to  take  place  by  saying  that  such  improvement  is  due 
to  improved  methods  of  learning,  rather  than  to  any 
improvement  in  the  retentive  capacity.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  persons  who  have  a  great  deal  of 
memorizing  to  do  become  very  proficient.  It  is  no  un- 
common matter,  for  example,  for  a  stock  company  of 
actors  and  actresses  to  be  playing  one  play,  rehears- 
ing a  second,  and  learning  a  third  each  week. 

In  cases  like  these  James  believes  that  facility  is 
acquired  by  the  building  up  of  many  associations  and 
thus  increasing  the  possibility  of  revival,  and  by  the 
development  of  habits  of  attention  and  thought  that 
make  the  learning  easier  and  the  recall  surer.  What 
appears  to  be  improved  memory  is  in  reality  the  ac- 
quiring of  better  habits  of  learning. 

An  experimental  attack  on  the  problem.  —  In  order 
to  test  his  conclusion  experimentally,  James  practised 
his  memory  by  learning  the  entire  first  book  of  Milton's 
"Paradise  Lost."  Before  beginning  this  practice,  how- 
ever, he  tested  his  memory  by  finding  out  how  long  it 
took  him  to  learn  158  lines  of  Victor  Hugo's  "Satyr." 
Again,  at  the  end  of  the  practice  with  "Paradise  Lost" 
he  tested  with  158  lines  of  the  "Satyr,"  and  found  no 
improvement  over  his  earlier  memorizing. 

This  experiment  made  by  James,  and  those  of  some 
of  his  students  made  at  the  same  time,  were  somewhat 


222  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

inconclusive  because  of  differences  in  the  results  and  be- 
cause of  very  evident  faults  in  the  methods  of  carry- 
ing out  the  experiments.  James  himself  admits,  for 
example,  that  he  was  "perceptibly  fagged"  when  he 
tested  himself  the  second  time  on  the  "Satyr."  Since 
that  time,  however,  large  numbers  of  experiments  made 
in  a  similar  way  but  with  greater  refinement  of  method 
have  been  carried  out  not  only  concerning  memory  but 
in  many  other  fields. 

Further  experimentation.  —  Ebert  and  Meumann 
attempted  to  discover  to  what  degree  memory  may  be 
generally  improved  by  practice  in  memorizing  nonsense 
syllables.  Before  beginning  the  practice  they  tested  the 
ability  of  those  taking  part  in  the  experiment  to  re- 
member numbers,  letters,  geometrical  forms,  German- 
Italian  vocabularies,  poetry,  prose,  etc.  At  certain  in- 
tervals during  the  practice  period  with  the  nonsense 
syllables  and  at  the  end  of  the  experiment  they  were 
tested  again  with  numbers,  letters,  etc.  It  was  found 
that  improvement  took  place  in  memorizing  the  non- 
sense syllables  to  the  extent  of  70  per  cent.  At  the 
same  time  an  improvement  of  from  11  to  81  per  cent 
took  place  in  memorizing  the  other  sorts  of  material 
that  had  not  been  directly  practised. 

In  general  the  larger  degree  of  improvement  in  the 
test  series  was  in  the  material  most  like  nonsense 
syllables.  Thus,  the  gain  in  remembering  numbers 
was  60  per  cent,  while  that  for  poetry  was  only  11 
per  cent.    Other  experimenters  have  shown  that  Ebert 


TRANSFER  OF  TRAINING  223 

and  Meumann's  percentages  of  gain  in  remembering 
the  material  not  directly  practised  are  too  high,  be- 
cause the  tests  themselves  afforded  some  opportunity 
for  practice.  Dearborn  has  shown  that  persons  taking 
tests  just  as  did  Ebert  and  Meumann's  subjects,  but 
without  any  training  series  at  all,  nevertheless  im- 
proved to  an  average  amount  of  32  per  cent.  The  true 
gain  made  by  the  effects  of  training  is,  therefore,  con- 
siderably less  than  the  amount  of  Ebert  and  Meu- 
mann's figures. 

Rugg's  experiments.  —  Rugg  investigated  the  effect 
of  a  semester's  training  in  descriptive  geometry  on  the 
capacities  of  students  taking  the  course.  The  problem 
was  to  discover  whether  this  training  was  limited  in 
its  effects  to  the  subject  studied  or  whether  there  was 
a  spread  or  "transfer"  of  effects  to  other  capacities. 
His  experiments  included  tests  of  two  groups  of  stu- 
dents, the  ".training  group"  (those  taking  descriptive 
geometry)  and  the  "control  group"  (those  not  taking 
descriptive  geometry).  Both  groups  took  certain  "pre- 
liminary tests"  at  the  beginning  of  the  experiment  and 
both  groups  took  the  "end  tests"  at  its  close.  The 
preliminary  and  end  tests  were  of  the  same  sort,  being 
designed  to  test  capacity  of  visual  imagination  in  vari- 
ous ways.  For  example,  in  one  series  of  tests  the  stu- 
dents were  asked  to  divide  numbers  mentally;  in 
another  they  were  required  to  picture  the  letters  of 
the  word  "material"  and  to  form  from  these  letters  as 
many  new  words  as  possible;  in  still  another  to  form 


224  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

a  mental  picture  of  certain  geometrical  objects  (for 
example,  a  wedge)  and  to  count  the  number  of  straight 
lines  that  it  would  take  to  construct  one  in  space. 

As  a  result  of  these  tests  Rugg  found  that  (1)  the 
training  group  taken  as  a  whole  made  greater  gains 
than  the  control  group  in  the  end  tests  as  compared 
with  the  preliminary  tests;  (2)  the  training  group 
contained  a  larger  proportion  of  gainers  than  the  con- 
trol group;  and  (3)  the  training  group  gained  in  a 
larger  proportion  of  the  tests  taken  than  did  the  con- 
trol group. 

General  conclusions.  —  The  experiments  that  have 
been  described  may  be  regarded  as  typical,  both  in 
their  methods  and  in  their  results,  of  the  large  majority 
of  investigations  concerning  transfer  of  training. 
Taken  as  a  whole,  the  following  generalizations  may 
be  made: 

( 1 )  In  nearly  all  cases  there  is  evidence  of  some  de- 
gree of  transfer  of  the  effects  of  practice  to  other 
capacities  than  those  directly  trained. 

(2)  The  amount  of  improvement  effected  by  prac- 
tice directly  is  almost  always  considerably  greater  than 
the  amount  of  indirect  or  transfer  effect. 

(3)  The  amount  of  the  transfer  effect  is  usually 
greater  in  the  case  of  mental  capacities  that  are  similar 
to  those  practised  than  in  the  case  of  those  that  are 
less  similar. 

The  upholder  of  the  doctrine  of  general  training 
is  therefore  warranted  in  his  belief  that  there  are  valu- 


TRANSFER  OF  TRAINING  225 

able  by-products  to  be  expected  from  proper  training 
in  any  specific  field  of  study.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
is  no  longer  possible  to  maintain  that  the  best  way 
of  training  the  student  for  definite  situations  is  to 
teach  him  something  else.  Experiment  shows  that 
when  the  right  hand  is  trained  to  perform  a  certain 
task,  the  left  hand  shares  to  a  certain  extent  in  the 
increased  power  and  skill ;  but  it  would  be  an  extremely 
inefficient  way  of  training  the  left  hand  to  do  it  in- 
directly through  training  the  right.  The  danger  in 
holding  the  doctrine  of  formal  training  in  an  extreme 
form  is  that  it  leads  to  a  blind  trust  in  the  formula 
"train  the  mind"  and  the  specific  purpose  of  the  train- 
ing is  lost  sight  of.  As  will  be  seen  in  a  later  chapter, 
even  such  useful  subjects  as  reading  and  writing  are 
sometimes  carried  to  unnecessary  lengths  because  of 
the  persistence  of  the  belief  that  the  constant  drill 
is  "training  the  mind." 

Training  by  means  of  difficult  subjects.  —  The  term 
"mental  discipline"  is  sometimes  used  with  the  idea 
back  of  it  that  education,  if  it  is  worth  while,  must 
train  the  pupil  to  do  hard  work.  This  capacity  for 
overcoming  difficulties  is  in  large  measure  equivalent 
to  giving  concentrated  attention  to  the  work  and  per- 
sisting in  doing  so  after  the  interest  flags.  When  a  task 
becomes  wearisome  there  are  feelings  of  strain  and 
unpleasantness.  Training  helps  the  pupil  to  disre- 
gard these  unpleasant  feelings  and  continue  the  task, 
and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  such  training  func- 


226  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

tions  more  or  less  generally.  But  difficult  tasks  should 
not  be  imposed  on  the  student  merely  because  they  are 
difficult,  for  there  are  enough  difficult  tasks  to  perform 
that  are  also  useful.  If,  at  the  same  time,  the  difficult 
task  can  be  made  the  natural  outcome  of  an  original 
or  acquired  interest  of  the  pupil,  he  is  relieved  of 
drudgery  without  any  loss  of  mental  discipline.  To  the 
extent  that  the  compulsion  to  continue  his  task  comes 
from  within,  it  results  in  permanent  training;  but  if 
it  is  imposed  from  without  it  does  not  function  unless 
the  outward  authority  is  present. 

Negative  transfer.  —  It  has  been  found  that  under 
some  circumstances  practice  in  one  direction  may  not 
only  not  bring  about  added  efficiency  in  another,  but 
may  even  interfere  with  increased  efficiency  in  the 
second.  For  example,  in  the  case  of  one  of  his  subjects 
Judd  found  in  his  experiments  with  the  Miiller-Lyer 
illusion,  already  referred  to,  that  practice  overcame 
the  illusion.  When,  however,  the  figure  was  reversed 
end  for  end,  not  only  was  the  practice  effect  not 
carried  over  to  this  slightly  different  situation,  but 
a  great  deal  of  practice  on  the  figure  in  this  latter  form 
failed  to  bring  about  any  improvement.  As  Judd  points 
out,  we  see  this  sort  of  thing  in  every-day  life,  where 
specialization  along  a  certain  line  tends  to  narrow  "the 
interests  in  that  direction,  and  to  that  extent  precludes 
the  development  of  interests  in  other  directions.  So  far 
from  developing  the  power  of  observation  in  general, 
for   example,   training  in   observing   things   through 


TRANSFER  OF  TRAINING  227 

microscopes  may  develop  observation  of  that  sort  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  interfere  with  the  habit  of  ob- 
serving other  things. 

Conditions  of  transfer.  —  Judd's  experiment  with 
the  Muller-Lyer  figure  shows  further  that  whether 
transfer  of  practice  effects  takes  place  or  does  not  may 
depend  not  so  much  on  whether  the  second  situation 
is  similar  to  the  first  as  on  the  learner's  attitude  to- 
ward his  problem.  While,  in  the  case  of  the  subject 
referred  to  above,  there  was  no  transfer  effect  from 
the  practice  with  the  figure  in  the  one  form  to  the 
other,  in  the  case  of  another  subject  there  was.  The 
difference  in  the  two  cases  was  that  the  first  subject 
knew  nothing  about  the  results  of  the  practice.  He 
did  not  know  that  there  was  an  illusion  to  begin  with, 
and  he  did  not  know  that  he  actually  saw  the  figure  in 
a  new  way  after  practice.  In  the  case  of  the  second 
subject,  however,  both  of  these  conditions  were  well 
understood. 

Various  other  experiments  tend  to  show  that  the 
learner's  knowledge  of  the  results  of  his  learning  and 
his  general  attitude  toward  the  problem  may  deter- 
mine whether  transfer  effects  take  place.  Children 
taught  to  be  neat  in  arithmetic,  for  example,  were 
found  in  one  experiment  not  to  have  acquired  any 
more  neatness  in  their  other  work.  In  another  experi- 
ment, however,  in  which  the  conditions  were  slightly 
changed  by  trying  to  impress  the  "ideal"  of  neatness 
on  the  pupils,  a  general  improvement  in  neatness  re- 


228  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

suited.  School  life  is  full  of  situations  that  may  lead 
to  the  cultivation  of  important  attitudes  of  general 
serviceableness,  such  as  accuracy,  thoroughness,  in- 
dustry, initiative,  and  independent  thinking. 

If,  then,  we  raise  such  questions  as  whether  train- 
ing in  geometry  develops  the  capacity  for  reasoning 
in  general,  there  seems  little  doubt  that  the  correct 
answer  is  that  in  some  instances  it  does  and  in  others 
it  does  not.  Whether  it  does  or  does  not  depends  on 
whether  the  pupil  acquires  a  feeling  for  logical  con- 
sistency which  he  strives  to  carry  out  in  all  his  think- 
ing. The  skill  of  teachers  must  be  largely  measured 
by  the  success  they  have  in  developing  such  generalized 
attitudes  in  their  pupils. 

References 

Freeman,   F.   U.     How  Children   Learn.     Chapters 

VIII-XI.     (Houghton  Mifflin,  1917.) 
Judd,  C.  H.    Psychology  of  the  High  School  Subjects. 

Chapter  XVII.     (Ginn,  1915.) 
Starch,  Daniel.    Educational  Psychology.    Chapters 

XI-XIV.    (Macmillan,  1919.) 
Thorndike,  E.  L.    Educational  Psychology  (Briefer 

Course).     Chapters  X-XVIII.     (Teachers  College, 

1914.) 


CHAPTER  XIV 

INDIVIDUAL  DIFFERENCES 

Individuals  differ  from  one  another  in  mental 
capacities.  —  Up  to  this  point  the  description  given  of 
the  mental  life  may  have  created  the  impression  that 
people  are  for  the  most  part  alike  or  nearly  alike  in 
their  mental  capacities.  To  be  sure,  it  was  shown  in 
connection  with  the  discussion  of  mental  imagery  that 
very  important  differences  exist  between  different  in- 
dividuals. It  was  there  shown  that  under  similar  ob- 
jective conditions  some  people  have  a  preference  for 
the  use  of  some  one  or  more  kinds  of  mental  imagery, 
while  other  persons  prefer  a  different  kind.  Such  dif- 
ferences as  these  may  be  called  qualitative  differences, 
since  they  refer  to  the  use  of  different  kinds  of  mental 
processes  by  different  persons  under  similar  conditions. 
Besides  the  qualitative  differences  between  individ- 
uals, there  are  also  large  quantitative  differences,  that 
is,  differences  in  the  degrees  of  efficiency  that  different 
persons  are  able  to  exert  in  using  the  same  kind  of 
mental  capacity.  Both  the  qualitative  and  quantitative 
individual  differences  are  so  important  for  education, 
and  so  apt  to  be  overlooked  in  thinking  and  practice, 
that  it  will  be  well  to  consider  them  in  some  detail. 

229 


230  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

Individual  differences  in  physical  traits.  —  Indi- 
vidual differences  in  physical  traits  are  easily  observ- 
able. When  measurements  of  such  traits  are  made  in 
the  case  of  large  numbers  of  individuals  some  interest- 
ing facts  are  revealed.  The  following  table  gives  the 
heights  of  1171  sixteen-year-old  girls  and  the  number 
and  percentage  of  the  whole  group  that  have  reached 
each  height: 

Table  II 


Height  in  Centimeters 

Number  of  Cases 

Per  Cent  of  Cases 

136-139 

2 

0.2 

140-143 

12 

1.0 

144-147 

54 

4.6 

148-151 

159 

13.6 

152-155 

280 

23.9 

156-159 

310 

26.5 

160-163 

218 

18.6 

164-167 

102 

8.7 

168-171 

31 

2.6 

172-175 

2 

0.2 

176-179 

1 

0.1 

The  curve  of  distribution.  —  These  facts  may  also 
be  shown  in  the  form  of  a  diagram  (Fig.  28)  called  a 
surface  of  frequency  or  distribution  curve.  The  hori- 
zontal base  line  is  laid  off  into  ten  equal  divisions, 
each  of  which  represents  one  of  the  four  centimeter 
units  of  the  table.  The  height  of  the  vertical  line  at 
each  of  the  division  points  on  the  base  line  represents 
the  number  of  cases  of  that  height.  Thus  the  first 
vertical  stands  for  two  cases,  and  the  last,  which  is 
half  as  long  as  the  first,  for  one  case.  Either  the  height 
of  the  various  points  above  the  base  line  or  any  one  of 
the  rectangles  may  be  regarded  as  standing  for  the 


INDIVIDUAL  DIFFERENCES 


231 


number  of  individuals  of  the  heights  indicated  at  the 
base.  The  larger  the  number  of  individuals  measured 
and  the  smaller  the  units  laid  off  on  the  base  line,  the 


O) 

K) 

K 

_ 

in 

0) 

IO 

1^ 

_„ 

in 

0) 

1 

1 

10 
1 

in 

1 

in 
I 

<0 

1 

(0 

1 

Is 
1 

I 

1 

V> 

O 

* 

oo 

CM 

iD 

o 

t 

CO 

CM 

10 

K> 

* 

* 

* 

m 

in 

to 

10 

<0 

K 

K 

Fig.  28.    Distribution  curve  for  Table   II. 

less  broken  the  curve  becomes,  so  that  it  is  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  with  a  very  large  number  of  cases  and 


Fig.  29.  Form  of  curve  to  which  Fig.  28  would  approximately 
conform  if  an  indefinitely  large  number  of  cases  were  taken,  and  the 
units  of  height  were  very  small. 

small  units  it  would  approximate  the  form  of  the  curve 
in  Fig.  29. 

From  an  inspection  of  such  a  curve,  it  appears  (1) 


232 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


that  the  majority  of  persons  possess  the  trait  to  an 
average  degree;  (2)  that  there  are  about  any  equal 
number  of  persons  above  the  average  and  below  the 
average  at  each  corresponding  point;  (3)  that  the  num- 
ber of  persons  becomes  smaller  and  smaller  as  the 
amount  of  deviation  from  the  averages  becomes 
greater  and  greater,  and  (4)  that  there  are  no  really 
separate  groups  with  distinct  gaps  between  them. 


d 


LL 


<0 


©     2    r     2 


Fig.  30.  Distribution  of  the  intelligence  quotients  of  112  kinder- 
garten children  as  measured  by  the  Stanford  revision  of  the  Binet- 
Simon  scale.     (After  Terman.) 

Distribution  of  intelligence.  —  Mental  capacities,  as 
far  as  they  have  been  measured,  seem  to  be  distributed 
in  much  the  same  manner  as  such  physical  traits  as 
height.  Terman  found,  for  example,  that  when  he 
measured  the  intelligence  of  112  kindergarten  children 
by  means  of  the  Stanford  revision  of  the  Binet  scale, 
the  distribution  was  shown  in  Fig.  30.  It  will  be 
seen  (1)  that  the  kindergarten  children  measured  vary 
in  intelligence  all  the  way  from  60  to  150  on  a  scale 


INDIVIDUAL  DIFFERENCES  233 

where  100  represents  average  or  normal  intelligence; 
(2)  that  the  number  of  children  ranking  from  130  to 
150  or  above  is  practically  the  same  as  the  number 
ranking  below  80;  (3)  that  those  who  are  of  average 
intelligence  constitute  20  per  cent  of  the  number,  and 
that  if  we  add  to  these  the  total  number  in  the  next 
higher  and  next  lower  groups  65  per  cent  of  all  the 
children  are  included. 

Evidently,  if  such  children  were  to  be  divided  into 
groups  of  nearly  equal  ability  it  would  not  be  sufficient 
to  make  two  divisions — the  one  inferior  and  the  other 
superior.  The  smallest  number  of  such  groups  that 
would  answer  the  purpose  would  be  three — one  large 
group  containing  the  persons  who  are  of  average  or 
nearly  average  ability,  and  two  smaller  groups,  the 
one  of  inferior  and  the  other  of  superior  ability. 

Intelligence  tests  and  their  results.  —  The  bureau  of 
educational  research  of  the  University  of  Illinois  has 
measured  the  intelligence  of  large  numbers  of  children 
by  means  of  the  Illinois  intelligence  scale  (see  Appen- 
dix). This  is  a  series  of  tests  on  which  each  pupil 
who  takes  the  examination  makes  a  certain  score. 
If  the  score  made  is  the  same  as  the  average  score  for 
pupils  of  the  same  age,  he  is  said  to  be  of  average 
intelligence  and  his  mental  and  chronological  age  are 
the  same.  If,  however,  a  pupil  whose  chronological 
age  is  6  makes  a  score  equal  to  the  average  score  of 
8-year-old  children,  he  is  said  to  be  of  greater  than 
average  intelligence  and  to  have  a  mental  age  of  8 


234 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


Similarly,  another  child  may  be  6  years  old  chrono- 
logically, but  his  mental  age  may  be  found  to  be  but  4 
years.  Dividing  the  mental  age  by  the  chronological 
gives  the  Intelligence  Quotient  (I.  Q.),  which  is  the 
index  of  the  child's  brightness  or  dullness.  The  In- 
telligence Quotient  is  generally  expressed  without  the 
decimal  point.  Thus  if  a  child  of  6  has  a  mental  age 
of  6  his  I.  Q.  is  100;  if  his  mental  age  is  4  his  I.  Q.  is 


4o         s~o         €o  7a  BO  so  foo         /JO        /go        '30        wo       /so 

Fig.  31.  Distribution  curve  of  the  intelligence  quotients  of  586 
eighth-grade  children  of  Decatur,  Illinois,  as  measured  by  the  Illi- 
nois intelligence  examination.     (See  Appendix.) 

66.6;  and  if  his  mental  age  is  8  his  I.  Q.  is  133.  Fig. 
31  shows  the  distribution  of  the  I.  Q.'s  of  all  the  eighth- 
grade  children  of  Decatur,  Illinois,  who  were  attend- 
ing school  when  the  examination  was  given.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  curve  is  of  the  same  general  shape  as 
those  of  Fig.  28  and  Fig.  30. 

Overlapping  of  mental  ages  in  the  grades.  —  So 
great  are  the  differences  in  the  ability  of  children  that 
the  mental  ages  of  children  in  the  various  grades  over- 


INDIVIDUAL  DIFFERENCES 


235 


lap  to  a  surprising  degree.  Table  III  gives  the  figures 
for  the  third,  fifth,  and  eighth  grades  of  an  Illinois 
city. 

Table  III 


Mental  Age 

5.5-6.5 

6.5-7.5 

7.5-8.5 

8.5-9.5 

9.5-10.5 

Grade  III 

Grade  V 

15 
3 

41 
11 

48 
26 

34 
61 

2 

■ 

63 

Grade  VIII 

6 

Mental  Age 

10.5-11.5 

11.5-12.5 

12.5-13.5 

13.5-14.5 

14.5-15.5 

Grade  III  

Grade  V 

1 
36 
16 

12 
30 

9 
35 

3 
33 

Grade  VIII 

33 

Mental  Age 


Grade  III  . . 
Grade  V.... 
Grade  VIII. 


15.5-16.5 


17 


16.5-17.5 


12 


17.5-18.5 


Over  18.5 


These  figures  show  that  there  are  some  pupils  of 
Grade  III  whose  mental  ability  is  equal  to  that  of 
some  of  the  pupils  of  Grade  VIII.  The  overlapping 
of  the  abilities  of  the  pupils  of  Grade  V  with  those  of 
the  other  grades  is,   of  course,   even  more   marked. 

Fig.  32  shows  similar  overlapping  for  Grades  IV, 
VI  and  VIII. 

People  differ  widely  in  all  mental  capacities.  — 
Wherever  it  is  possible  to  measure  the  mental  capac- 
ities of  a  fairly  large  number  of  individuals,  it  is 
found  that  wide  differences  in  ability  exist,  regardless 
of  the  capacities  tested  and  the  grouping  of  individuals. 


236 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


Grade  IS 

„ .    cm 


Fig.  32.  Showing  overlapping  of  intelligence  of  Illinois  school  chil- 
dren in  Grades  IV,  VI  and  VIII.  These  curves  are  drawn  from 
records  of  the  Bureau  of  Educational  Research,  University  of  Illi- 
nois, and  represent  measurements  of  approximately  20,000  pupils. 

The  following  figures  are  taken  from  Starch  and  show 
the  results  of  a  number  of  tests  on  50  university  stu- 
dents: 


Quickest. 
Slowest . . 


Memorizing 


60  seconds 
240  seconds 


Opposites 


30  seconds 
110  seconds 


Addition 


31  seconds 
115  seconds 


Subtraction 


15  seconds 
90  seconds 


The  first  column  shows  the  time  taken  by  the  two 
students  who  were  quickest  and  slowest  in  memorizing 


INDIVIDUAL  DIFFERENCES  237 

a  stanza  of  poetry.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  quickest 
student  memorizes  four  times  as  rapidly  as  the  slow- 
est. The  others  range  between  these  two  extremes, 
with  the  larger  number  at  or  near  the  average. 

There  is  almost  as  great  a  difference  in  the  results 
of  the  "opposites"  test,  in  which  the  students  were 
shown  a  list  of  words  and  the  time  was  measured  that 
was  required  to  associate  these  with  other  words  oppo- 
site to  them  in  meaning.  The  same  is  true  for  the 
"addition"  test,  and  in  the  case  of  the  "subtraction" 
test  the  difference  is  still  more  marked. 

Great  differences  in  achievement  between  children 
of  same  age  and  grade.  —  Educational  tests  given  to 
school  children  in  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and 
other  school  subjects  have  given  the  same  picture. 
Even  in  a  single  grade,  where  children  have  been 
selected  because  they  are  supposed  to  be  somewhat 
uniform  in  their  attainments,  very  wide  variations 
have  been  shown  to  exist.  H.  A.  Brown  made  a  study 
of  the  reading  capacity  of  children  in  New  Hampshire 
schools  by  means  of  carefully  devised  tests.  He  de- 
scribes the  condition  found  in  one  fourth  grade  as 
follows:  "There  are  six  pupils  in  the  class  who  are 
totally  unable  to  read.  The  best  reader  in  the  grade 
is  nearly  thirty-eight  times  as  efficient  as  the  poorest. 
The  twenty  best  readers  have  about  nine  and  one  half 
times  as  great  reading  ability  as  the  twenty  who  have 
the  least  reading  power." 


238 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


Table  IV  gives  the  scores  of  a  large  number  of  pupils 
of  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  in  Harlan's  standard- 
ized test  in  American  history.    This  test  is  composed 


Table  IV 


1 

Grade 

Score 

VII 

VIII 

0 

3 

2 

6 

19 

10 

11 

37 

13 

16 

63 

35 

21 

79 

42 

26 

94 

61 

31 

93 

79 

36 

100 

90 

41 

115 

98 

46 

113 

79 

51 

99 

95 

56 

65 

100 

61 

65 

92 

66 

54 

112 

71 

35 

136 

76 

35 

136 

81 

18 

187 

86 

13 

140 

91 

3 

118 

96 

6 

66 

Total 

1,109 

1,691 

Median  * 

43.9 

68.2 

1  The  median  is  a  measure  sometimes  used  instead  of  an  average. 
When  all  the  measurements  are  arranged  in  order  of  size,  the  middle 
measurement   is  the   median. 

of  a  series  of  forty-two  questions  in  American  history. 
The  correct  answer  to  each  question  is  assigned  a  def- 
inite value  and  definite  instructions  as  to  how  to  score 
are  given.  The  table  gives  the  scores  made  by  pupils 
in  May.    On  the  basis  of  more  than  2,000  answers  to 


INDIVIDUAL  DIFFERENCES 


239 


each  question,  the  median  scores  in  June  are  56  for 
the  seventh  grade  and  86  for  the  eighth.  It  will  be 
seen  from  the  table  how  enormously  children  in  the 
same  grade  differ  from  one  another  in  their  knowledge 
of  American  history. 

Much  the  same  picture  is  afforded  by  the  figures  in 
Table  V,  which  shows  the  scores  of  more  than  2,000 

Table  V 


Grade 

Score 

VII 

VIII 

0 

8 

23 

1 

18 

51 

3 

30 

87 

5 

52 

121 

7 

103 

154 

9 

134 

133 

11 

193 

201 

13 

225 

203 

15 

225 

237 

17 

259 

217 

19 

322 

214 

21 

304 

233 

23 

242 

214 

25 

202 

171 

27 

262 

63 

29 

127 

94 

31 

56 

Total 

2,706 

2,472 

Median 

197 

17.2 

eighth-grade  pupils  on  the  Monroe  standardized  rea- 
soning tests  in  arithmetic.  (See  Appendix.)  These 
scores  are  based  on  the  number  of  examples  in  arith- 
metic in  which  the  correct  principle  was  followed,  re- 
gardless of  the   correctness  or   incorrectness  of   the 


240  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

calculations.  It  is  apparent  that  pupils  differing  so 
widely  in  ability  to  solve  these  problems  cannot  be 
taught  successfully  by  the  same  methods  and  in  the 
same  classes.  Such  instruction  almost  inevitably 
comes  to  be  adapted  for  those  of  average  ability. 
Pupils  whose  capacities  are  either  above  or  below  the 
average  cannot  profit  as  they  should  from  such  instruc- 
tion. 

Schools  must  be  organized  so  as  to  take  these 
differences  into  consideration.  —  Such  investigations 
as  these  indicate  that  the  usual  methods  of  promotion 
do  not  accomplish  the  purposes  for  which  they  are  in- 
tended, namely,  the  bringing  together  of  pupils  who 
are  of  the  same  or  nearly  the  same  capacities.  Pro- 
motions have  been  on  the  basis  of  age  or  length  of 
time  in  school  rather  than  on  ability  to  do  a  certain 
grade  of  work,  resulting  in  a  handicap  to  the  schools 
and  injustice  to  individual  pupils.  Brighter  pupils 
are  kept  from  progressing  at  their  normal  rate,  and 
duller  pupils  are  advanced  beyond  the  point  where  they 
are  able  to  cope  with  the  work. 

Reasons  for  individual  differences.  —  Individual 
differences  in  mental  capacities  may  be  due  either  to 
native  endowment  or  to  training,  or  to  the  influence 
of  both  combined.  It  is  difficult  to  prove  definitely 
which  of  these  two  factors  is  the  more  important,  but 
there  is  evidence  that  in  many  instances  the  differences 
are  innate.  One  of  the  most  striking  indications  that 
this  is  the  correct  view  comes  from  studies  of  the 


INDIVIDUAL  DIFFERENCES  241 

effects  of  equal  amounts  of  practice  on  individuals 
who  start  with  differing  degrees  of  ability  in  some 
performance.  Henmon,  for  example,  studied  the  re- 
sults of  practice  in  the  four  fundamental  operations 
of  arithmetic  during  the  course  of  a  school  year.  He 
found  that  "those  with  the  highest  initial  scores  have 
the  highest  final  scores  and  gain  most  both  absolutely 
and  relatively." 

Figures  for  the  fifth  grade  are  reproduced  in  Table 
VI: 


Table  VI 

Average  at 
beginning 

Average  at 
end  of 

Gross 

of  year 

year 

gain 

Group  I  (highest  in  initial  ability) 15.8 

Group  II  (medium  initial  ability) 13.3 

Group  III   (lowest  initial  ability) 11.5 

61.5 
44.5 
32.5 

45.7 
31.2 
21.0 

Correlation  of  abilities.  —  Not  only  do  these  differ- 
ences increase  with  training,  but  it  seems  to  be  true 
in  general,  though  contrary  to  the  usual  belief,  that 
those  who  have  superior  ability  along  one  line  are 
likely  to  be  superior  in  all  others.  Thorndike  has 
summed  up  the  evidence  on  this  point  as  follows :  "All 
trustworthy  studies  so  far  made  of  the  relations  be- 
tween amounts  of  desirable  single  traits  in  the  same 
individual  agree  in  finding  direct  or  'positive'  relations 
between  such  traits.  Having  a  large  measure  of  one 
good  quality  increases  the  probability  that  one  will 
have  more  than  the  average  of  any  other  good  quality. 
He  who  can  learn  better  than  the  average  through  the 


242       PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

eyes  tends  to  learn  better  than  the  average  through  the 
ears  also ;  he  who  can  attend  to  one  thing  better  than 
all  other  men  will  be  able  to  attend  to  many  things  at 
once  or  in  rapid  succession  better  than  most  of  them. 
Artistic  ability,  as  in  music,  painting,  or  literary  crea- 
tion, goes  with  scientific  ability  and  matter-of-fact 
wisdom.  The  best  abstract  thinker  will  be  above  the 
average  in  concrete  thought  also.  The  rapid  workers 
are  the  more  accurate.  Intellectual  ability  and  moral 
worth  hang  together." 

Some  of  the  best  examples  of  studies  which  have 
shown  that  desirable  abilities  generally  go  together  are 
those  based  on  school  grades.  Starch  found  the  corre- 
lations between  grades  in  various  school  subjects  given 
in  Table  VII: 

Table  VII 

Arithmetic  and   language 85 

"  "      geography 83 

"  "      history 73 

"  "      reading 67 

"      spelling 55 

Language  and  geography 85 

"  "     history 77 

"  "     reading 83 

"     spelling 71 

Geography  and  history 81 

"     reading 80 

"     spelling 52 

History  and  reading 67 

"  "     spelling 52 

Reading  and  spelling 58 

The  degree  of  relationship  in  Table  VII  is  expressed  by 
the  fractions  varying  from  .37  to  .85.  A  perfect  re- 
lationship, such  that  the  highest  pupil  in  one  subject  is 


INDIVIDUAL  DIFFERENCES  243 

highest  in  another,  the  second  highest  in  the  one  the 
second  highest  in  the  other,  and  so  on,  would  be  ex- 
pressed by  1.  The  relationships  expressed  in  the  table, 
therefore,  are  not  perfect,  and  in  cases  of  some  in- 
dividuals there  may  be  a  decided  lack  of  relationship. 
The  figures  indicate  that  such,  however,  are  not  the 
typical  cases.  It  is  the  observation  of  such  extreme 
and  unusual  cases  that  gives  rise  to  the  erroneous  opin- 
ion that  mental  capacities  are  highly  specialized. 

Necessity  for  individual  instruction.  —  The  net  re- 
sult of  the  investigation  of  quantitative  individual  dif- 
ferences in  mental  capacities  is  to  show  the  necessity  for 
flexible  schemes  of  promotion,  and  the  arrangement 
of  pupils  into  groups  that  are  truly  homogeneous  with 
respect  to  their  capacities.  Having  arranged  the  pupils 
in  groups  that  have  nearly  equal  abilities,  however, 
the  important  qualitative  differences  still  remain. 
Tests  of  performance  in  any  school  subject  fail  to  re- 
veal why  one  individual  differs  from  another.  In  many 
instances,  as  we  have  seen,  the  reason  is  a  difference 
in  native  ability.  In  many  other  instances  the  reason 
is  that  the  pupils  go  about  their  tasks  in  different 
ways.  They  employ  different  methods.  The  tests, 
therefore,  do  not  in  reality  measure  the  same  mental 
capacities.  Indeed,  the  teacher  is  in  duty  bound  to 
assume  that  in  all  cases  of  slowness  of  progress  the 
difficulty  can  be  remedied,  until  all  available  means  of 
discovering  its  source  and  all  possible  means  of  over- 
coming it  have  been  used. 


244  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

Illustration  of  the  effects  of  extreme  individual 
differences.  —  An  example  of  the  importance  of  em- 
ploying methods  suited  to  the  individual  child  may  be 
cited  from  Bronner: 

We  know,  for  instance,  of  a  boy  now  fourteen  years 
old  whose  entire  school  career  has  undoubtedly  been 
greatly  modified  for  the  better  because  his  intelligent 
parents  understood  better  than  his  teachers  the  harm 
that  was  resulting  from  the  use  of  methods  not  adapted 
to  his  defective  functioning  in  certain  mental  processes. 
It  was  early  recognized  that  the  boy  had  poor  auditory 
powers  and  exceptionally  good  visual  powers.  When 
five  years  old  he  drew  a  very  good  representation  of 
the  facade  of  an  ancient  university  building  he  had 
seen,  and  at  seven  made  a  most  complicated  drawing 
of  a  quadruple-expansion  waterworks  engine.  Though 
a  great  effort  was  made  from  the  time  he  was  a  year 
or  so  old  to  teach  him  Mother-Goose  rhymes  and 
other  couplets,  he  never  cited  correctly  the  simplest 
verse  until  he  was  six  years  old;  nor  has  he  ever 
been  able  to  carry  a  tune  correctly  or  sing  a  song,  in 
spite  of  intensive  and  oft  repeated  attempts  to  teach 
him  simple  music.  It  is  interesting  to  note,  for  in- 
stance, that  "America"  has  been  sung  and  played  to 
him  hundreds  of  times,  and  even  been  played  by  him, 
without  his  acquiring  the  ability  to  sing  it. 

At  five  years  of  age  this  boy  was  sent  to  a  fine 
private  school,  where  the  teaching  in  the  first  grades 
was  largely  oral.  When  in  the  third  grade  he  was 
placed  in  a  subclass  for  backward  children  because  he 
was  so  retarded  in  number  work.  Though  the  boy 
made  no  progress  in  music  nor  in  memorizing  verses, 


INDIVIDUAL  DIFFERENCES  245 

this  was  not  interpreted  as  of  any  significance,  nor 
was  any  effort  made  to  utilize  his  good  visual  powers 
in  place  of  his  defective  powers  of  audition.  When, 
however,  his  parents  were  told  (by  an  unusually  com- 
petent teacher)  that  the  boy  was  not  learning  arith- 
metic and  was  probably  defective  in  this  type  of  work, 
they  themselves  began  to  teach  him  by  visual  pres- 
entations. In  two  weeks  he  had  not  only  mastered  the 
work  assigned  in  the  grade,  but  led  his  class.  In  the 
next  two  years,  acquiring  the  power  to  learn  by  visu- 
alization, he  accomplished  the  ordinary  work  of  four 
school  grades.  Now,  at  fourteen,  through  extensive 
compensations,  little  difficulty  arises;  he  transposes, 
probably  often  unconsciously,  many  auditory  percepts 
into  visual  form.  His  own  introspections,  as  well  as 
his  method  of  studying,  show  very  conclusively  that 
visual  means  are  employed  whenever  possible.  His 
powers  of  perceiving  logical  relationships  are  extremely 
good,  and  these,  together  with  his  quite  unusual  visual 
gifts,  enable  him  to  maintain  class  standing  consider- 
ably in  advance  of  his  years.  It  is  interesting  that 
even  now  his  greatest  disability  is  in  regard  to  lan- 
guage; in  spite  of  all  the  advantages  derived  from  the 
best  of  environmental  conditions,  the  boy  shows  poor 
feeling  in  the  use  of  English.  In  dealing  with  foreign 
languages  there  is  great  aptness  displayed  in  learning 
the  structural  form,  but  quite  a  little  trouble  with 
achieving  an  idiomatic  translation.  It  is  evident  that 
in  this  field  he  is  hardly  at  all  aided  by  sound. 

References 
Freeman,  F.  N.    How  Children  Learn.    Chapter  III. 
(Houghton  Mifflin,  1917.) 


246  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

Starch,  D.  Educational  Psychology.  Chapters  III, 
IV,  V,  VI.     (Macmillan,  1919.) 

Thorndike,  E.  L.  Individuality.  (Houghton  Mifflin, 
1911.)  Educational  Psychology  (Briefer  Course). 
Chapters  XXI-XXVII.  (Teachers  College,  Colum- 
bia University,  1914.) 


CHAPTER  XV 

MENTAL  DEVELOPMENT 

Bodily  development.  —  Careful  study  of  the  physio- 
logical changes  that  take  place  from  year  to  year  as 
the  child  grows  older  shows  that  these  changes  are 
not  always  uniform,  but  that  there  are  periods  of 
relatively  rapid  and  relatively  slow  growth.  The  pe- 
riods of  rapid  growth  are  somewhat  different  in  boys 
and  girls.  Increase  in  height,  for  example,  in  the  case 
of  boys  is  rapid  from  the  age  of  four  and  a  half  years 
to  eight  and  a  half  years,  slow  from  eight  and  a  half 
to  twelve  and  a  half,  and  rapid  from  twelve  and  a 
half  to  sixteen  and  a  half.  For  girls,  on  the  other  hand, 
increase  in  height  is  practically  constant  from  six  and 
a  half  to  sixteen  and  a  half.  Increase  in  weight  in  boys 
is  rapid  from  six  and  a  half  to  eight  and  a  half,  slow 
from  eight  and  a  half  to  twelve  and  a  half,  and  rapid 
again  from  twelve  and  a  half  to  sixteen  and  a  half. 
For  girls  increase  in  weight  is  rapid  from  six  and  a 
half  to  eight  and  a  half,  slow  from  eight  and  a  half  to 
ten  and  a  half,  and  rapid  from  ten  and  a  half  to  four- 
teen and  a  half.  While  boys  are  in  general  taller  and 
heavier  than  girls  of  the  same  age,  girls  excel  boys 
in  height  during  the  ages  between  twelve  and  fourteen, 

247 


248  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

and  in  weight  between  thirteen  and  sixteen.  This 
means  that  girls  mature  earlier  than  boys;  but  as  soon 
as  the  boys  reach  the  stage  of  maturity  they  again  excel 
the  girls  in  both  height  and  weight. 

Danger  of  applying  average  results  to  individuals.  — 
The  figures  for  increase  in  height  and  weight  show  how 
difficult  it  is  to  give  a  general  statement  of  the  way 
in  which  physical  development  takes  place,  for  the 
curves  of  growth  in  height  and  weight  differ  consider- 
ably from  one  another,  and  the  curve  for  the  boys 
differs  from  that  for  the  girls.  Studies  of  the  other 
bodily  functions  and  organs,  such  as  lung  capacity  and 
size  of  head,  show  that  these  also  have  their  own 
characteristic  curves  of  growth,  differing  from  those 
of  height  and  weight.  Furthermore,  besides  the  im- 
portant sex  differences  that  have  been  pointed  out, 
there  are  highly  important  differences  between  one 
individual  and  another  of  the  same  sex,  which  tend  to 
be  obscured  when  the  descriptive  statement  is  based  on 
averages.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  average  difference 
in  height  and  weight  between  one  child  and  another 
of  the  same  age  is  greater  than  the  average  increase 
of  the  group  for  a  year.  As  Terman  has  put  it,  "Each 
individual  is  a  law  unto  himself.  A  school  child  may 
be  several  inches  shorter  and  many  pounds  lighter 
than  the  average  for  children  of  his  age,  race,  and  sex, 
while  fully  reaching  the  standard  which  nature  has 
set  for  him." 

Are  bodily  and  mental  development  parallel?  —  The 


MENTAL  DEVELOPMENT  249 

mental  life  in  its  various  phases  also  shows  fluctua- 
tions of  rate  of  development.  The  question  naturally 
presents  itself  whether  mental  development  and  bod- 
ily development  are  closely  parallel  or  whether  they 
take  independent  courses.  This  question  is  difficult 
to  answer  for  several  reasons,  one  of  which  has  al- 
ready been  stated.  It  is  difficult  to  get  a  general  state- 
ment of  bodily  development,  to  say  nothing  of  mental 
development,  for  changes  in  one  capacity  do  not  closely 
parallel  those  of  another.  In  the  second  place,  the 
investigators  who  have  studied  this  question  are  not 
wholly  in  agreement  in  their  conclusions.  If  we  con- 
fine our  attention,  however,  to  the  relatively  sudden 
changes  of  puberty,  it  has  been  fairly  well  demon- 
strated, as  Baldwin  says,  "that  the  stages  of  physical 
and  mental  maturity  are  parallel,  irrespective  of 
precocity  or  brightness.  This  would  require  that  tall, 
healthy  children  of  accelerated  physiological  develop- 
ment be  encouraged  to  proceed  through  school  as 
rapidly  as  possible  within  the  limits  of  thoroughness, 
and  that  the  small,  light  children  of  retarded  physio- 
logical development  be  kept  below  or  in  the  normal 
grade,  doing  supplementary  work,  since  these  short, 
light  pupils  are  immature  in  mental  development,  al- 
though in  many  cases  precocious  in  degree  of  bright- 
ness. It  also  follows  that  rapid,  healthy  growth  favors 
good  mental  development,  and,  therefore,  that  the 
healthy  growing  child  should  have  plenty  of  physical 
and  mental  exercise." 


250  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

The  culture-epoch  theory  of  mental  development.  — 
A  number  of  attempts  have  been  made  to  define  in 
more  or  less  detail  the  stages  of  development  of  mental 
capacities.  One  of  the  first  of  these  was  the  culture- 
epoch  theory.  This  theory,  in  turn,  was  based  on  the 
biological  law  of  recapitulation,  according  to  which  life 
changes  in  an  individual  run  closely  parallel  to  the 
changes  that  have  taken  place  in  racial  history  during 
the  course  of  the  evolution  of  higher  from  lower  forms 
of  animal  life.  The  culture-epoch  theory  carries  this 
view  over  to  the  mental  life,  and  holds  that  the  stages 
of  mental  development  in  the  child  correspond  to  the 
stages  through  which  the  race  has  passed  in  its  evolu- 
tion from  lower  forms  of  animal  life  to  man  in  his  most 
primitive  form  and  the  subsequent  progress  from  sav- 
agery to  civilization.  According  to  this  view,  the  child 
at  one  stage  is  a  hunter,  at  a  later  a  nomad,  then  an 
agriculturist,  etc.,  in  his  interests  and  instincts,  and  his 
education  should  follow  these  interests  and  in  that 
order. 

Impossibility  of  describing  mental  development  on 
basis  of  this  theory.  —  Whatever  may  be  said  of  the 
truth  of  the  culture-epoch  theory  in  its  broader  aspects, 
the  most  careful  study  will  fail  to  reveal  any  exact 
parallelism  between  the  child  and  the  race  in  mental 
development.  The  culture  epoch  theory  has  failed  to 
give  any  detailed  view  of  stages  of  development  in  the 
child,  though  it  has  undoubtedly  been  one  of  the 
factors  in  making  educators  emphasize  the  importance 


MENTAL  DEVELOPMENT  251 

of  child  study,  and  of  basing  educational  procedure  on 
child  nature  rather  than  on  abstract  schemes  of  what 
may  be  regarded  from  the  adult  point  of  view  as 
logically  appropriate  methods. 

Another  form  in  which  the  recapitulation  theory  has 
been  carried  over  in  the  description  of  mental  de- 
velopment is  given  in  the  writings  of  G.  Stanley  Hall 
and  others.  This  view  has  been  presented  in  summary 
form  by  Bagley,  who  distinguishes  three  stages  of  de- 
velopment. These  stages  are  ( 1 )  the  transition  period 
(6-8  years  of  age) ;  (2)  the  formative  period  (8-12 
years  of  age);  (3)  the  adolescent  period  (12-18  years 
of  age). 

The  transition  period.  —  This  earliest  period  in  the 
life  of  the  school  child  is  thus  named  because  during 
this  period  there  takes  place  "a  passing  over  of  interest 
from  means  to  end,  from  process  to  product — an  initial 
development  from  passive  to  active  attention."  Never- 
theless, there  is  but  little  development  of  capacity  for 
active  attention  during  this  period.  The  child  is  not 
able  to  reason  in  any  real  sense  at  this  time.  Hence 
instruction  of  an  intellectual  kind  must  be  largely 
through  appeals  to  the  senses  and  that  which  is  in- 
herently interesting.  In  the  moral  sphere  the  child's 
action  must  be  forced  in  the  right  direction  by  reward 
and  punishment. 

The  formative  period.  —  This  is  the  period  for  drill 
and  habit  formation.  "While  passive  attention  is  still 
dominant,  the  concentration  and  effort  that  active  at- 


252  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

tention  involves  can  be  demanded  with  less  fear  of 
disastrous  consequences.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
formative  period  the  capacity  for  logical  reasoning  is 
still  nascent,  although  it  would  seem  to  make  its  pres- 
ence felt  in  a  slight  degree  at  about  the  age  of  nine." 

The  adolescent  stage.  —  The  adolescent  stage  is 
characterized  by  mental  changes  as  profound  as  the 
physical  changes  of  that  period.  These  changes  are 
first  of  all  of  an  emotional  character.  "Fear,  love, 
pity,  jealousy,  emulation,  ambition,  and  sympathy  are 
either  now  born  or  springing  into  their  most  intense 
life."  The  child  now  acts  from  social  motives  rather 
than  individualistic  as  heretofore.  He  may  now  be 
influenced  both  intellectually  and  morally  by  appeals 
to  reasoning. 

Evidence  lacking  for  marked  changes  from  period 
to  period.  —  While  the  picture  that  Bagley  has  given 
is  suggestive  and  instructive,  it  must  be  accepted  with 
reserve  because  (1)  it  is  not  based  on  experimental 
evidence.  All  such  descriptions  are  necessarily  limited 
to  the  impressions  gained  by  observation  of  children, 
and  there  has  been  much  disagreement  even  among 
the  most  capable  observers;  (2)  it  tends  to  exaggerate 
the  suddenness  with  which  mental  changes  actually 
occur.  It  is  certainly  not  true,  for  example,  that  the 
child  can  reason  in  any  essentially  different  way  after 
the  age  of  nine  from  that  in  which  he  reasons  before 
that  age.  The  truth  is  that  the  child's  reasoning  capac- 
ity is  present  from  the  earliest  years,  and  that  he  is 


MENTAL  DEVELOPMENT  253 

able  to  deduce  conclusions  whenever  the  data  are  sim- 
ple enough  for  him  to  understand.  This  capacity  in 
the  young  child  is  limited  by  his  lack  of  experience. 
Just  as  untrue  is  it  to  say  that  there  is  ever  a  time  after 
school  age  when  the  child  is  not  capable  of  some  de- 
gree of  sustained  effort  and  attention.  Furthermore, 
while  the  physical  and  mental  changes  of  adolescence 
are  profound,  there  is  little,  if  any,  ground  for  holding 
that  at  this  time  the  child  becomes  a  new  being,  or  that 
he  becomes  suddenly  endowed  with  entirely  new  capac- 
ities. 

Kirkpatrick's  stages  of  mental  development.  — 
Another  elaborate  scheme  of  representing  stages  of 
mental  development  has  been  contributed  by  Kirk- 
patrick,  who  uses  susceptibility  to  social  influences  as 
the  criterion.  On  this  basis  the  following  stages  may 
be  distinguished:  (1)  Pre-social.  During  this  period 
the  child  is  influenced  only  by  objects  and  by  animals 
and  persons  in  the  same  way  as  if  they  were  objects. 
This  period  ends  near  the  close  of  the  first  year.  (2) 
Imitative  and  socializing  stage.  During  this  period, 
which  lasts  till  about  three  years  of  age,  "the  child 
becomes  more  and  more  susceptible  to  mental  influ- 
ences and  his  mental  states  are  determined  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  by  the  mental  states  of  those  around 
him." 

(3)  The  third  stage,  which  culminates  at  about  six 
years  of  age,  may  be  designated  as  the  individualizing 
stage,  during  which  the  conscious  personality  that  has 


254  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

been  developed  during  the  previous  period  becomes 
more  distinctly  individual  and  asserts  itself,  instead  of 
merely  assimilating  the  characteristics  of  others. 

(4)  The  fourth  stage,  ending  at  about  twelve  years 
of  age,  may  be  described  as  the  period  of  competitive 
socialization.  It  is  a  period  when  a  child  is  introduced 
to  a  wider  social  environment  and  in  which  the  im- 
pulses to  excel  in  competition  are  prominent  and  are 
brought  out  in  association  with  others  of  the  same 
age. 

(5)  The  fifth  stage,  culminating  at  about  eighteen 
years  of  age,  may  be  called  the  pubertal  or  transitional 
period.  During  this  time  the  youth  and  maiden  be- 
come more  susceptible  to  many  social  influences  that 
formerly  affected  them  not  at  all,  and  many  new  and 
important  interests  develop  that  are  characteristic  of 
the  sex  and  age. 

(6)  The  sixth  period,  ending  at  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  may  be  designated  as  the  stage  of  later  adoles- 
cence, during  which  the  individual  is  ushered  into  the 
larger  world  of  thought  and  action  and  becomes  pre- 
pared to  take  his  part  in  the  various  activities  of  the 
race  as  a  fully  developed  man  or  woman. 

Such  schemes  must  be  accepted  with  caution.  — 
Like  the  other  scheme  just  presented,  this  one  must 
be  viewed  with  the  same  caution,  as  Kirkpatrick  him- 
self is  careful  to  point  out.  In  reality  there  are  no 
sharp  breaks  between  these  various  periods;  the  capac- 
ities of  one  period  are  not  absent  from  the  preceding 


MENTAL  DEVELOPMENT  255 

and  succeeding  periods;  the  ages  given  must  be  re- 
garded as  only  approximate,  and  even  the  order  of 
the  stages  may  vary  in  different  individuals. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  at  the  present  stage  of  our 
knowledge  no  description  of  the  child's  mental  life  in 
terms  of  stages  of  development  can  adequately  repre- 
sent the  facts.  Some  children  develop  rapidly  at  cer- 
tain periods  with  respect  to  a  particular  capacity,  others 
slowly,  and  still  others  gradually.  Even  when  changes 
occur  relatively  suddenly,  there  are  frequently  great 
differences  in  the  ages  at  which  these  changes  appear. 
Take,  for  example,  the  case  of  instincts.  Here,  if  any- 
where, we  should  expect  to  find  uniformity  of  develop- 
ment in  different  individuals.  It  is  true  that  some 
instinctive  tendencies  crop  out  more  or  less  suddenly, 
but  to  argue  a  general  law  of  development  from  these 
cases  is  impossible.  It  is  a  matter  of  common  observa- 
tion, for  example,  that  some  children  pass  through 
stages  in  which  fear  of  certain  situations  seems  to  de- 
velop suddenly,  and  after  a  certain  length  of  time  as 
suddenly  disappears.  Other  children  of  the  same  fam- 
ily may  not  exhibit  the  same  tendencies  to  sudden 
development  of  fear  of  these  situations  at  all,  or 
if  at  all  they  may  appear  at  entirely  different  times. 
Of  course,  it  may  be  said  that  these  differences  are 
due  to  differences  in  experience,  but  as  a  matter  of 
fact  they  often  occur  when  they  cannot  be  accounted 
for  in  this  way. 


256  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

The  facts  of  mental  development,  therefore,  at  the 
present  stage  of  our  knowledge  cannot  be  adequately 
described  in  general  terms.  We  are  justified  only  in 
presenting  the  facts  that  are  known  with  regard  to 
certain  capacities  that  have  been  measured,  and  even 
then  it  is  necessary  to  remember  that  these  pictures 
of  mental  development  must  be  taken  with  reserve  (1) 
because  the  measurements  have  been  made  on  different 
groups  of  children  at  the  various  ages  instead  of  the 
same  children  from  year  to  year,  and  (2)  because  it  is 
certain  that  the  differences  between  one  child  and  an- 
other in  respect  of  any  particular  capacity  is  frequently 
greater  than  that  from  one  age  level  to  another.  Keep- 
ing these  limitations  of  our  data  in  mind,  we  may  add 
to  what  has  already  been  said  in  the  foregoing  chapters 
the  description  of  some  particular  mental  capacities, 
which  can  be  outlined  in  more  or  less  accurate  fashion. 

Development  of  motor  control  in  tapping.  —  Some 
light  is  thrown  on  the  development  of  motor  activities 
by  studies  that  have  been  made  of  the  rate  at  which 
children  can  tap  at  various  ages.  All  investigators 
agree  that  the  rate  of  tapping  increases  from  the  ages 
of  six  to  eighteen  years.  There  may  be  periods  of 
rapid  and  slow  growth,  but  the  investigations  do  not 
agree  in  showing  what  these  are.  Bryan's  study  in- 
dicates that  the  muscles  of  the  fingers  and  wrist  are 
less  developed  at  six  years  than  are  those  of  the  elbow 
and  shoulder,  as  shown  by  Table  VIII,  where  tapping 


MENTAL  DEVELOPMENT  257 

Table  VIII 

Boys 

Six  years 

Fingers 57 

Wrist 64 

Elbow 72 

Shoulder 69 

ability  at  six  years  of  age  is  expressed  as  a  per  cent 
of  the  ability  at  sixteen  years  of  age. 

While  these  figures  show  a  relative  immaturity  of 
finger  control  at  the  age  of  six,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how 
they  can  be  used,  as  some  writers  have  used  them,  to 
support  the  view  that  writing  should  not  be  taught 
until  the  age  of  nine  or  ten,  or  even  that  the  early 
writing  of  the  child  should  be  by  means  of  the  so- 
called  arm-movement  method  rather  than  finger  move- 
ments. 

Development  of  the  instinct  for  making  collections. 
—  Practically  the  only  investigation  of  instinctive 
activities  the  results  of  which  can  be  put  in  terms  of 
numbers  is  that  of  Burk,  who  got  replies  from  more 
than  one  thousand  children  through  their  teachers 
with  reference  to  the  number  of  collections  they  had 
made.  Classified  by  age  and  sex,  the  records  were 
as  in  Table  IX: 

Table  IX 

Age 6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17 

Average  per  child..  1.5  2.3  4.0  4.0  4.4  3.3  3.0  3.4  3.0  2.9  2.7  2.5 

Burk  enumerates  three  stages  through  which  this 
instinct  seems  to  pass:   (1)  Up  to  the  age  of  eight  the 


258  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

child  simply  heaps  up  possessions  in  haphazard  fash- 
ion. (2)  From  the  eighth  to  the  eleventh  or  twelfth 
year  the  instinct  is  strongest  and  applies  to  the  largest 
number  of  kinds  of  things  collected.  This  is  the  period 
when  the  child  is  most  interested  in  making  collections 
of  butterflies,  flowers,  bird's  eggs,  etc.  (3)  The  third 
stage,  in  the  adolescent  period,  is  the  one  that  needs 
careful  direction  along  scientific  lines.  Otherwise  it 
is  likely  to  take  the  form  of  collecting  articles  of  no 
value  except  for  their  sentimental  interest  instead  of 
becoming  a  motive  for  valuable  training. 

Development  of  the  play  instinct.  —  Studies  of  the 
play  of  children  have  been  made  by  the  questionnaire 
method.  These  show  that  the  interest  of  both  boys 
and  girls  in  toys  is  present  very  strongly  at  an  early 
age,  but  declines  steadily  after  the  age  of  six.  On 
the  other  hand,  interest  in  ball  games  rises  steadily  up 
to  adult  years  in  the  case  of  boys,  while  with  girls  it  is 
never  great  and  remains  virtually  constant.  Games 
of  chase  are  engaged  in  extensively  from  the  age  of 
nine  up  to  fourteen,  when  the  interest  in  them  begins 
to  decline.  Rivalry  and  cooperation,  two  important 
phases  of  play  life,  are  strong  from  the  time  of  the  early 
period  of  adolescence  and  into  adult  life.    (See  Fig.  33.) 

Development  of  capacity  to  make  drawings.  — 
Allied  to  play,  especially  in  its  earlier  manifestations, 
is  drawing.  Children's  drawings  have  been  studied 
in  much  detail  and  thousands  of  their  drawings  have 


MENTAL  DEVELOPMENT 


259 


been  collected  and  classified.  We  may  take  as  an  illus- 
tration of  the  stages  of  development  enumerated  by 
different  authors  that  of  Meumann.  The  first  stage  is 
that  of  scribbling,  lasting  up  to  about  the  fourth  year. 


8    9    10    II    12  13  14  15  IS  17  18 


-    — GIRLS/   ,VYCJ 

-f BOYS')    BALL 

GIRLSjOAMES 

.  M BOYS  I     CAMES 

-«* GIRLS.)  OF  CHASE 


Fig.  33.    Curves  showing  the  interest  of  boys  and  girls  at  various 
ages — in  toys,  ball  games  and  games  of  chase.     (After  Croswell.) 


This  stage  begins  with  aimless  lines  and  scratch  ings, 
enjoyed  apparently  only  because  of  the  activity  con- 
nected with  them,  but  with  no  purpose  of  representa- 
tion. Later  the  lines  become  parts  of  objects  to  suit 
the  child's  fancy.  Only  toward  the  latter  part  of  the 
period  is  there  any  beginning  of  real  representation, 


260  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

and  then  it  is  a  bringing  together  of  lines  to  stand  for 
characteristic  parts  of  the  objects  represented. 

The  second  stage  is  that  of  the  schematic  outline. 
The  child  does  not  attempt  to  represent  the  object  in 
the  way  it  is  seen,  but  rather  to  draw  what  he  knows 
about  it.  The  same  schematic  outline  will  serve  to 
represent  men,  women,  and  children,  and  will  suffice 
for  animals.  This  stage  lasts  till  about  seven  years 
of  age  in  the  case  of  those  more  gifted  in  drawing. 

In  the  third  stage  the  child  begins  to  have  a  feeling 
for  lines  and  forms.  At  this  period  he  makes  the  first 
attempts  to  reproduce  objects  in  their  true  form  with 
parts  properly  related,  though  mixed  with  such  draw- 
ings are  the  schematic  outlines  of  the  second  stage. 

In  the  fourth  stage  the  schematic  representation  dis- 
appears and  objects  are  represented  in  their  true  form, 
though  little  capacity  is  present  for  representing  the 
third  dimension. 

In  the  fifth  stage,  beginning  about  the  eleventh  year 
in  those  more  advanced  in  drawing,  the  representation 
of  perspective  begins  to  appear.  The  sixth  stage  is  that 
in  which  proper  distribution  of  light  and  shadow  effects 
are  added. 

Meumann  states  that  in  general  boys  are  superior 
to  girls  in  drawing  ability,  though  girls  have  a  certain 
degree  of  superiority  in  sense  of  color  and  decorative 
work. 

Development  of  attention.  —  It  is  difficult  to  test 
attention,  because  it  is  so  obviously  a  function  of  every 


MENTAL  DEVELOPMENT  261 

other  capacity.  Bagley's  statement  that  there  is  a 
development  of  active  attention  as  the  child  grows 
older  is  confirmed  by  ordinary  observation.  Every- 
thing seems  to  indicate,  however,  that  this  development 
is  gradual  and  that,  furthermore,  children  very  early 
are  capable  of  voluntary  attention.  There  are  clearly 
wide  variations  in  this  respect.  The  assumption  that 
children  are  capable  of  sustained  attention  not  at  all, 
or  only  in  connection  with  play  and  other  purely  in- 
stinctive activities,  certainly  does  not  hold  for  the 
majority  of  children  at  school  age.  Interest  in  the 
school  subjects,  for  example,  may  in  the  majority  of 
cases  be  as  easily  aroused  as  in  the  case  of  adults.  Most 
children  are  much  interested  in  the  accomplishment  of 
forms  of  activity  that  they  see  older  persons  perform- 
ing. Like  older  persons,  too,  they  can  and  do  whip  up 
their  flagging  attention  to  such  tasks  under  the  spur  of 
social  pressure.  It  is  true  that  younger  children  tire 
more  easily  than  older  under  such  conditions,  and  need 
more  frequent  changes  and  shorter  periods  of  employ- 
ment on  any  one  test;  but  the  mental  picture  of  the 
child  at  school  age  here,  as  elsewhere,  is  not  essentially 
different  from  that  of  older  children. 

Development  of  memory.  —  Contrary  to  the  gener- 
ally accepted  belief,  children  do  not  memorize  more 
readily  than  adults,  even  in  the  case  of  rote  learning 
or  memorizing  word  for  word.  While  adults  some- 
times do  not  learn  by  rote  as  readily  as  children,  it  is 
due  to  lack  of  practice  in  that  method  of  learning. 


262  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

With  practice  the  adult  is  superior  to  the  child  in  this 
as  in  other  mental  capacities. 

Immediate  memory,  that  is,  ability  to  reproduce  ma- 
terial immediately  after  learning  or  seeing  it,  can  be 
tested  by  presenting  letters  or  digits  or  words  for  a 
short  time  and  then  requiring  that  they  should  be  re- 
produced. The  largest  number  reproduced  in  the  cor- 
rect order  is  called  the  "memory  span"  for  that  kind 
of  material.  Smedley  found  that  the  memory  span  for 
digits  when  heard  was  better  than  when  seen  in  the 
case  of  younger  children  from  seven  to  nine  years  of 
age;  but  from  that  time  onward  the  visual  method  of 
presentation  is  increasingly  more  effective.  Increase 
in  capacity  for  both  the  visual  and  auditory  increases 
rapidly,  the  visual  up  to  fourteen  and  a  half,  the  audi- 
tory up  to  thirteen  and  a  half  years  of  age.  After  these 
ages  the  increases  are  slow. 

Development  of  reasoning  capacity.  —  It  is  difficult 
in  the  case  of  all  mental  capacities  to  state  how  much 
of  the  difference  between  the  child  and  the  adult  is  due 
to  the  child's  mere  immaturity  and  how  much  to  lack 
of  experience.  Indeed,  the  capacity  itself  is  condi- 
tioned by  experience,  and  has  no  existence  apart  from 
it.  It  is  especially  difficult  to  find  tests  of  the  reason- 
ing capacity  of  children  adequate  to  their  experience; 
but  ordinary  observation  of  children  shows  that  they 
reason  in  situations  the  elements  of  which  are  familiar 
to  them.    Thus  a  child  of  four  years  of  age,  who  was 


MENTAL  DEVELOPMENT  263 

accused  of  having  made  finger-marks  on  a  white  door, 
replied :  "I  could  n't  have  done  it,  for  I  am  not  tall 
enough."  In  some  cases  the  conclusion  of  the  child 
may  be  ridiculous  to  the  adult,  but  it  is  none  the  less 
a  reasoned  conclusion,  as  in  the  case  of  the  two-year- 
old  who  asked  why  the  stove  did  not  walk,  since  it 
had  legs. 

Tests  of  reasoning  as  shown  in  the  ability  to  solve 
arithmetical  problems  show  no  marked  increase  in 
capacity  at  any  particular  school  age.  On  the  contrary, 
there  seems  to  be  a  gradual  increase  in  ability  from  one 
grade  to  another  of  the  elementary  school.  The  figures 
of  Table  X  are  taken  from  Bonser's  study  in  which  the 
arithmetical  problems  of  the  army  intelligence  scale 
were  used  for  testing  632  pupils  from  Grade  4B  to  8A : 

Table  X 

Grade 4B    4A    5B    5A    6B    6A    7B    7A    8B    8A 

Average 3.8  5.02   5.5    5.8    6.3    7.2    7.5    7.7    8.8    9.3 

Number  of  cases 37     76     44     56     64     67     69     82     58     79 

References 

Bagley,    W.    C.    The   Educative    Process.     Chapter 

XII.     (Macmillan,  1905.) 
Judd,  C.  H.    Psychology  of  High  School  Subjects. 
Kirkpatrick,  E.  A.     The  Individual  in  the  Making. 

(Houghton  Mifflin,  1911.) 
Waddle,  C.  W.     An  Introduction  to  Child  Psychology. 

(Houghton  Mifflin,  1918.) 


CHAPTER  XVI 
READING 

In  the  next  four  chapters  it  will  be  the  purpose  to 
apply  the  principles  already  studied  to  some  of  the 
more  common  branches  of  elementary  school  learning, 
and  to  study  the  processes  involved  in  them  in  some  de- 
tail. In  all  of  this  work  it  will  be  convenient  to  follow 
the  divisions  suggested  by  the  principle  of  the  sensori- 
motor arc.  We  shall  then  have  to  study  the  various 
sensory,  motor,  and  central  processes  involved  in  these 
different  forms  of  learning.  In  making  this  classifica- 
tion, however,  it  should  constantly  be  remembered  that 
these  processes  are  not  in  reality  separate  processes, 
but  only  distinguishable  aspects  of  a  single  unitary 
group  of  processes. 

Sensory  processes  in  reading.  —  Beginning,  then, 
with  the  sensory  processes  involved  in  reading,  it  will 
be  noted  at  once  that  these  processes  are  the  ones  we 
have  already  learned  to  recognize  as  perceptions.  Psy- 
chologically, a  printed  word  is  as  much  an  object  of 
visual  perception  as  that  occurring  on  looking  at  a 
tree  or  a  stone.  Valuable  light  has  been  thrown  on  the 
process  of  perception  involved  in  reading  by  the  ex- 
periments with  the  tachistoscope.    The  tachistoscope 

264 


READING  265 

is  a  piece  of  apparatus  by  means  of  which  visual  ob- 
jects, such  as  words  and  letters,  can  be  exposed  to  view 
for  very  short  periods  of  time  and  then  covered  by 
means  of  a  screen.  The  instrument  may  be  adjusted 
so  as  to  present  the  material  to  view  for  any  short  in- 
terval desired.  If  this  time  interval  be  made  so  short 
that  the  eye  does  not  move  during  the  period  of  ex- 
posure, one  may  study  the  process  of  recognition  of 
words  and  letters  during  the  time  of  a  single  visual 
fixation.  If  separate  letters  not  forming  words  or  syl- 
lables are  exposed  in  this  way,  six  or  seven  at  most  are 
recognized.  On  the  other  hand,  long  words  of  twenty 
or  more  letters  may  be  recognized,  especially  if  they  are 
familiar,  as  well  as  simple  sentences  containing  from 
four  to  six  words.  In  these  experiments  words  may  be 
misspelled  without  the  observer  noticing  anything  un- 
usual. Foreign  words  are  less  easily  perceived  and  in 
general  more  familiar  words  are  more  easily  recognized 
than  others  of  the  same  length. 

It  is  frequently  a  matter  of  surprise  to  older  persons 
who  have  been  taught  to  read  by  the  alphabetic  method 
that  children  may  be  taught  to  read  without  having 
first  learned  to  recognize  the  letters  of  the  alphabet. 
Such  experiments  as  these  show  why  this  can  be  done. 
Visual  recognition  of  words  does  not  imply  the  recog- 
nition of  the  separate  letters  of  the  word,  any  more  than 
the  perception  of  objects  in  general  implies  the  per- 
ception of  all  the  parts  of  the  object.  The  general  form 
of  the  word  as  a  whole,  to  which  certain  of  the  more 


266  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

conspicuous  letters  may  largely  contribute,  is  all  that 
is  necessary  in  order  that  the  word  may  be  perceived. 
Reading  in  this  way  is  more  rapid  and  effective  than 
would  be  the  case  if  it  were  necessary  that  each  sepa- 
rate letter  should  become,  in  turn,  an  object  of  atten- 
tion. 

Motor  processes  in  reading.  —  These  principles  and 
others  are  further  emphasized  by  a  study  of  reading  on 
its  motor  side.  The  most  obvious  motor  processes  con- 
nected with  reading  are  those  that  bring  about  the 
pronunciation  of  the  words  after  they  have  been  per- 
ceived. The  child  has  usually  already  fixed  forms  of 
speech  for  nearly  all  the  words  used  in  his  early  reading. 
Teaching  the  child  to  speak  these  words  is  not  usually 
a  problem  for  the  teacher,  though  much  needs  to  be 
done  to  improve  his  pronunciation  and  enunciation  in 
detail.  The  child  has  learned  to  pronounce  these  words 
by  imitating  others,  and  neither  speaks  nor  hears  them 
as  a  series  of  separate  sounds,  such  as  phonetic  analysis 
reveals  them  to  be.  They  are  heard  as  unitary  wholes, 
just  as  they  are  seen  as  unitary  wholes  when  printed. 
Indeed,  unless  special  instruction  in  phonetic  analysis 
is  given,  the  word  as  heard  and  pronounced  is  broken 
up  into  its  elementary  sounds  to  a  much  slighter  de- 
gree than  is  the  case  when  the  word  is  perceived 
visually. 

Distinction  between  silent  and  oral  reading.  —  At 
this  point  a  distinction  must  be  drawn  between  oral 
and  silent  reading.    The  earliest  instruction  of  the  child 


READING  267 

must  almost  of  necessity  be  in  the  oral  form  of  reading, 
but  this  kind  of  reading  does  not  constitute  the  goal  of 
the  learning  process  except  in  a  minor  degree.  The 
eventual  usefulness  of  the  child's  learning  to  read 
must  depend  almost  exclusively  upon  the  ability  he 
acquires  to  read  silently  with  speed  and  understanding. 
In  silent  reading  the  motor  processes  of  the  throat 
which  in  oral  reading  produce  the  spoken  words  are 
modified  and  repressed,  though  it  is  probable  that  they 
are  seldom  if  ever  entirely  absent.  Children  find  it 
difficult  to  read  to  themselves  at  first  without  at  least 
whispering.  Many  persons  never  get  beyond  the  stage 
of  lip-reading,  and  most  persons  have  more  or  less 
marked  muscular  changes  in  the  throat  as  silent  read- 
ing progresses. 

Such  considerations  as  these  show  that  oral  and 
silent  reading  are  in  part  different  activities,  and  sug- 
gest that  it  is  not  safe  to  assume  that  training  in  oral 
reading  will  result  in  efficient  silent  reading.  In  oral 
reading  the  speed  is  limited  by  the  time  it  takes  to 
pronounce  the  word;  in  silent  reading  the  speed  may 
be  similarly  limited  by  the  motor  speech  processes 
that  accompany  it.  Only  by  training  and  practice  can 
these  processes  be  modified  so  as  to  approximate  in 
speed  the  rapid  movement  that  it  is  possible  for  the 
eyes  to  make  in  silent  reading. 

Eye  movements  in  reading.  —  The  last  statement 
turns  our  attention  to  another  group  of  important 
motor  processes  common  to  oral  and  silent  reading — 


268  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

that  is,  eye  movements.  It  is  probable  that  if  we  knew 
all  there  is  to  know  about  the  way  in  which  the  eyes 
move  in  reading  we  should  be  forced  to  conclude  that 
it  is  as  important  to  train  these  movements  in  learning 
to  read  as  to  train  the  hand  in  learning  to  write.  Vari- 
ous means,  among  them  that  of  photographing  the  eyes 
on  a  moving  plate  or  by  a  kinetoscopic  camera,  have 
been  used  to  increase  our  knowledge  of  what  the  eye 
does  in  reading.  It  is  found  that  the  eye  never  moves 
in  a  continuous  left-to-right  movement,  as  would  be 
naturally  supposed,  but  that  it  fixates  some  point  in 
the  line  of  print,  then  rapidly  moves  forward  to  another 
point  of  fixation,  and  thus  by  a  series  of  stops  and 
movements  passes  along  the  line.  It  is  only  at  the  time 
that  the  fixation  pause  is  made  that  the  words  of  the 
printed  page  are  perceived.  While  the  eye  is  moving 
nothing  is  seen,  the  movement  being  too  rapid  for  clear 
vision. 

Fig.  34  shows  the  characteristic  movements  of  the 
eye  in  the  reading  of  a  practised  adult  reader.  It  will 
be  seen  that  there  are  three  distinguishable  kinds  of 
movement.  Usually  the  point  of  the  first  fixation  is 
well  beyond  the  beginning  of  the  line;  the  eye  then 
moves  on  from  point  to  point  in  the  left-to-right  direc- 
tion, usually  stopping  and  making  the  last  fixation 
before  the  end  of  the  line  is  reached.  Occasionally, 
however,  the  eye  makes  movements  backward  in  the 
right-to-left  direction.  These  movements  are  usually 
very  short,  and  undoubtedly  indicate  that  at  these 


READING 


269 


points  there  is  a  need  for  clearer  vision  of  what  has 
already  been  read.  Finally,  there  is  the  long  sweep 
of  the  eye  from  near  the  end  of  one  line  to  near 
the  beginning  of  the  next.    The  number  of  fixation 


2  / 


Wher 
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3    ¥ 


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/r  it 


regained   consciousness,    and 


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sjstanee  c 


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JZ 


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12. 


Fig.  34.  Showing  eye-fixations  of  an  adult  reader  in  three  lines 
of  print.  Each  vertical  line  indicates  a  fixation.  The  order  in  which 
the  fixations  were  made  is  indicated  by  the  numbers  above  each  line. 
The  numbers  below  the  line  indicate  the  duration  of  the  fixations  in 
units  of  fiftieths  of  seconds.  (From  Judd,  Reading:  Its  Nature  and 
Development,  by  permission  of  the  author.) 

pauses  varies  with  the  length  of  the  line,  the  difficulty 
of  the  content,  and  with  the  practice  of  the  reader. 

Eye  movements  of  trained  and  untrained  readers.  — 
A  comparison  of  the  eye  movements  of  practised  and 


270 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


unpractised  readers  (both  children  and  adults)  shows 
that  the  latter  make  more  pauses  in  the  course  of  the 
reading,  and  this  accounts  for  their  slowness.    Further- 


/    Z    3       *      5 


Theme 


IZ   to     X 


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4,   7     9 


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(,37 


ry  71 


4>/o 


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27W  #1     ft    ZlZZZi 
z.i  Zr         /(,  x 


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Fig.  35.  Showing  eye-fixations  during  silent  reading  of  a  slow 
reader  in  the  fourth  grade  who  has  been  shown  by  tests  to  have  poor 
ability  to  comprehend  what  he  reads.  Note  the  large  number  of 
fixations  and  of  shifting  movements.  (From  Judd,  Reading:  Its 
Nature  and  Development,  by  permission  of  the  author.) 

more,  the  pauses  of  unpractised  readers  are  longer,  and 
more  of  the  backward  shifting  movements  occur.  (See 
Fig.  35.)  Clearly,  then,  we  have  here  in  the  eye  move- 
ments used  in  reading  an  example  of  a  habit  that  re- 
quires training  just  as  much  as  is  the  case  of  the  train- 


READING  271 

ing  of  the  hand  to  write.  The  observations  of  the 
investigators  of  eye  movements  in  reading  indicate 
that  no  small  part  of  the  facility  of  good  readers 
depends  not  only  upon  the  reduction  of  the  number  of 
necessary  pauses  in  the  course  of  the  reading,  but  also 
the  moving  of  the  eyes  along  in  a  series  of  rhythmically 
related  movements.  The  method  of  eye  photography 
has  been  used  by  Judd  and  others  to  diagnose  the 
difficulties  that  poor  readers  have  to  contend  with  in 
reading,  and  in  the  attempt  to  remedy  their  faults. 
Even  in  those  extreme  cases  where  inability  to  read 
has  approximated  alexia,  or  word-blindness,  analysis 
of  the  child's  methods  and  careful  individual  instruc- 
tion have  in  many  instances  resulted  in  marked 
improvement. 

Central  processes  in  reading.  —  Having  discussed 
the  sensory  and  the  motor  processes  in  the  act  of 
reading,  we  now  turn  to  the  central  processes  involved. 
First  of  all,  in  learning  to  read,  it  is  necessary  for  the 
child  not  only  to  recognize  the  words  to  be  read,  but 
also  to  associate  them  with  the  sounds  of  the  words 
as  pronounced.  This  act  of  association  follows  the 
laws  already  laid  down  for  association.  When  the 
word  is  pointed  to  on  the  blackboard  and  the  teacher 
pronounces  it,  the  child  forms  an  association  between 
the  sound  of  the  word  (auditory  impression)  and  its 
appearance  (visual  impression),  which  is  the  more 
permanent  the  more  attentive  the  child  is  to  these 
impressions  (factor  of  vividness).    Repetition  serves 


272  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

to  increase  this  permanency  of  association,  while  lapse 
of  time  (lack  of  recency)  tends  to  break  down  the 
association.  Usually  the  associative  processes  set  up 
by  the  pronunciation  of  the  word  are  reinforced  by  the 
child's  own  articulatory  processes.  Thus  the  associa- 
tion will  involve  not  only  the  auditory  impressions 
from  the  child's  voice  but  the  kinesthetic  sensations 
from  those  muscles  of  his  throat  concerned  in  the 
speaking  of  the  word. 

Central  processes  involved  in  understanding  what 
is  read.  —  Thus  far  we  have  been  engaged  in  describing 
the  act  of  reading  as  a  relatively  mechanical  process. 
All  of  these  processes  may  in  some  cases  go  on  unin- 
terruptedly without  true  reading  taking  place  at  all, 
as  when  a  selection  is  read  correctly,  even  as  to  empha- 
sis and  inflection,  without,  however,  the  meaning  being 
grasped.  The  heart  of  the  act  of  reading  is  the  acqui- 
sition of  meanings  from  the  printed  page.  All  the 
mechanisms  included  in  the  reading  act  thus  far 
described  exist  for  this  purpose  alone  and  have  no 
significance  apart  from  this  purpose.  The  nature  of 
meaning  as  a  psychological  process  has  already  been 
discussed  in  the  chapter  dealing  with  language.  In 
the  present  connection  it  is  necessary  to  add,  however, 
that  difficulty  arising  in  connection  with  reading  for 
thought-getting  is  usually  not  connected  with  the 
meanings  of  individual  words,  though  such  difficulty 
may  sometimes  be  present.  The  much  more  usual 
difficulty  is  that  of  combining  the  meanings  of  words, 


READING  273 

phrases,  and  sentences.  This  involves  memory  of 
what  has  already  been  read  in  addition  to  a  certain 
amount  of  anticipation  of  what  is  coming,  together 
with  those  higher  thought  processes  necessary  for  the 
understanding  of  such  logical  connections  between 
ideas  as  may  be  expressed  in  the  reading  material. 

It  is  in  these  memory  and  anticipatory  and  higher 
thought  processes  that  consciousness  must  be  chiefly 
engaged  if  the  purpose  of  the  act  of  reading  is  to  be 
accomplished.  This  will  not  be  the  case  unless  the 
other  processes  have  become  so  automatic  as  to  free 
the  attention  for  the  acquisition  of  meanings  in  con- 
nected sequence.  Undoubtedly  this  explains  why  it  is 
that  in  general  rapid  readers  get  more  thought  from 
the  reading  than  slow  readers,  as  has  been  shown  to 
be  the  case  by  a  large  number  of  careful  investigations. 
The  slow  reader  has  not  mastered  the  mechanics  of 
the  reading  act,  as  is  shown  not  only  by  the  fact  that 
he  is  slow,  but  also  by  the  fact  that  he  understands 
less  of  what  he  reads. 

Individual  differences  in  reading  capacity.  —  The 
great  complexity  of  the  act  of  reading  must  have  pre- 
pared us  to  expect  that  great  individual  differences  in 
reading  efficiency  exist  among  pupils  of  the  same  age 
or  grade.  In  the  Cleveland  Survey  the  tests  of  oral 
reading  showed  that  "in  many  third-grade  classes  there 
were  pupils  reciting  together  who  ranged  in  ability 
from  those  unable  to  read  as  well  as  the  average  first- 
grade  pupil  to  those  able  to  surpass  the  average  eighth- 


274 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


grade  pupil.  In  the  intermediate  and  upper  grades 
there  were  a  number  of  pupils  who  were  still  unable 
to  pronounce  at  sight  some  of  the  simpler  words,  and 
stood  at  a  level  no  higher  than  that  of  the  average 
first-  and  second-grade  pupil.  In  the  grades  above 
the  second  there  were  pupils  in  nearly  every  class  who 
were  excellent  oral  readers  and  for  whom  it  is  doubtful 
whether  continued  daily  drill  is  longer  necessary." 

That  the  condition  with  respect  to  silent  reading  is 
usually  even  more  unsatisfactory  may  be  seen  from 
Tables  XI  and  XII.  These  tables  give  the  scores  in 
the  Monroe  silent  reading  test  (see  Appendix)  of  three 
classes  (grades  4A,  6B,  and  8A)  of  a  single  school  sys- 
tem of  a  city  in  Ohio.  They  are  selected  almost  at 
random  from  a  large  number  of  similar  records  on  file 
in  the  Bureau  of  Educational  Research  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Illinois.    In  Table  XI  the  rate  is  given  in  the 


Table  XI 


Rate  per  minute 

Grade  4  A 

Grade  6B 

Grade  8  A 

140-149 

1 

3 

4 

130-139 

0 

4 

1 

120-129 

2 

0 

0 

110-119 

4 

6 

8 

100-109 

1 

4 

7 

90-  99 

2 

11 

8 

80-  89 

4 

10 

5 

70-  79 

7 

0 

0 

60-  69 

9 

11 

4 

50-  59 

10 

5 

2 

40-  49 

3 

4 

30-  39 

0 

20-  29 

0 

10-  19 

1 

READING 


275 


left-hand  column  and  the  number  of  pupils  in  each 
grade  reading  at  that  rate  is  given  opposite.  Thus  one 
pupil  in  grade  4A  reads  at  a  rate  of  140-149  words  per 
minute ;  3  pupils  in  grade  6B  and  4  in  grade  8A  read  at 
the  same  rate,  etc. 
Table  XII  gives  the  results  for  the  same  classes  in 

Table  XII 


Comprehension 

Grade  4  A 

Grade  6B 

Grade  8  A 

42-44 

1 

39-41 

0 

36-38 

3 

33-35 

3 

4 

30-32 

1 

1 

3 

27-29 

0 

6 

4 

24-26 

2 

2 

4 

21-23 

3 

4 

6 

18-20 

3 

9 

1 

15-17 

5 

10 

8 

12-14 

6 

12 

4 

9-11 

12 

6 

1 

6-  8 

8 

2 

3-  5 

5 

2 

0-  2 

1 

2 

comprehension.  This  is  tested  by  the  ability  of  the 
pupil  to  answer  questions  based  on  what  was  read. 
Different  values  are  assigned  to  the  correct  answers 
to  the  questions.  The  table  shows  that  one  pupil  in 
grade  8A  made  a  score  of  42-44  in  comprehension;  3 
in  the  same  class  scored  36-38,  etc. 

Judd  also  found  in  the  Cleveland  Survey  that  the 
individual  differences  of  children  of  the  same  grade 
are  even  more  marked  than  in  the  case  of  oral  reading. 


276 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 


This  fact  is  well  illustrated  in  Fig.  36,  which  presents 
a  comparison  of  the  same  pupils  in  oral  and  silent 
reading.  The  upper  figure  shows  the  distribution  of 
these  pupils  on  the  basis  of  their  rate  of  oral  reading. 
The  lower  figure  is  based  on  the  rate  of  silent  reading. 
The  relatively  spread  out  character  of  the  latter  figure 
indicates  that  there  is  a  much  greater  amount  of  differ- 


Mill 


fl 


ar 


n.FLrfLE 


■  1 1 1 1  n  1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 


Fig.  36.  The  upper  curve  shows  the  distribution  of  the  pupils  of 
a  fifth  grade  of  the  public  schools  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  rate  of  oral 
reading.  The  lower  shows  the  distribution  of  the  same  pupils  in 
rate  of  silent  reading.  (From  Judd,  Measuring  the  Work  of  the 
Public  Schools,  by  permission  of  the  author.) 

ence  between  pupils  in  silent  reading.  Undoubtedly 
this  difference  is  due  in  part  to  differences  in  actual 
capacity,  but  in  part  to  the  fact  that,  silent  reading 
being  left  to  take  care  of  itself,  some  pupils  have 
learned  for  themselves  while  others  have  not.  System- 
atic training  in  silent  reading  for  the  whole  class 
might  be  expected  to  reduce  the  amount  of  difference 
and  make  the  distribution  in  silent  reading  more  like 
that  in  the  oral  reading. 

References 

Freeman,  F.  N.    The  Psychology  of  the  Common 
Branches.     (Houghton  Mifflin,  1916.) 


READING  277 

Judd,  C.  H.  Reading:  Its  Nature  and  Development. 
(University  of  Chicago  Press,  1918.) 

Klapper,  Paul.  Teaching  Children  to  Read.  Chap- 
ters I-IV.     (Appleton,  1915.) 

Starch,  D.  Educational  Psychology.  Chapter  XVI. 
(Macmillan,  1919.) 


CHAPTER  XVII 

SPELLING 

Motor  processes  in  spelling.  —  It  will  be  convenient 
to  begin  the  discussion  of  spelling  by  considering  the 
motor  processes  concerned  first.  Spelling  may  be  either 
oral  or  written.  In  the  former  case  there  is  nothing 
to  be  learned  by  the  child  so  far  as  the  motor  proc- 
esses are  concerned,  since  he  has  presumably  al- 
ready learned  to  pronounce  the  names  of  the  letters 
of  the  alphabet.  In  written  spelling,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  motor  activities  have  been  only  imperfectly 
learned.  Written  spelling,  therefore,  is  dependent  for 
its  effective  use  upon  handwriting.  To  the  degree  to 
which  the  handwriting  has  not  become  thoroughly 
mastered  the  pupil  is  handicapped  by  divided  attention 
between  the  activity  of  writing  and  that  of  spelling. 
An  additional  reason  for  this  discrepancy  between 
oral  and  written  spelling  consists  in  the  fact  that  they 
are  in  reality  two  separate  kinds  of  motor  response, 
and,  while  they  are  often  connected,  there  is  no  neces- 
sary relation  between  them.  It  is  clear,  however,  that 
if  spelling  is  to  be  begun  early  in  the  child's  school 
career,  much  reliance  must  be  placed  on  oral  spelling 
with  the  hope  that  such  connections  may  be  set  up. 

278 


SPELLING  279 

Sensory  processes  in  spelling.  —  On  the  sensory  side 
spelling  is  related  to  reading,  since  it  deals  with  the 
same  materials.  The  object  of  perception  in  spelling, 
however,  is  quite  different  from  the  object  of  perception 
in  reading.  While  reading  is  more  efficient  the  larger 
the  unit  of  perception  becomes,  in  the  case  of  spelling 
the  unit  of  perception  must  be  the  letter.  Undoubtedly 
in  the  case  of  practised  spellers  the  writing  of  words 
may  be  in  response  to  large  units,  such  as  words  and 
especially  syllables;  but  in  the  case  of  the  child  each 
letter  is  written  individually,  and  in  any  case  each 
letter  must  be  thought  of  in  a  sense  that  does  not 
hold  good  for  the  act  of  reading. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  best  method  of  teaching 
reading  may  not  be,  and  probably  is  not,  the  best 
method  of  producing  good  spellers.  Indeed,  the  two 
processes  are  naturally  opposed,  since  spelling  requires 
analysis  of  words  into  their  component  elements,  while 
reading  is  the  more  effective  the  longer  the  unit  appre- 
hended within  the  limits  required  for  getting  the 
thought  without  mistakes. 

Relative  value  of  the  various  means  of  sensory 
impressions.  —  Granting  that  the  child  has  learned  to 
associate  the  names  and  appearance  of  the  letters  of 
the  alphabet  and  is  able  to  write  them,  there  are  a 
number  of  ways  in  which  words  can  be  presented  in 
order  to  impress  their  spelling  upon  the  learner.  Thus 
they  may  be  presented  in  the  form  of  auditory  or 
visual  impression,  and  these  may  or  may  not  be  rein- 


280  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

forced  by  kinesthetic  sensations  from  throat  or  hand 
in  speaking  or  writing  the  letters.  It  becomes  a  mat- 
ter of  considerable  importance  to  know  which  of  these 
methods  of  presentation  gives  the  best  results  in  the 
learning  of  the  spelling  of  words.  Lay's  investigation 
on  this  point  may  be  cited.  Lay  used  nonsense  words 
and  thus  was  able  to  compare  the  results  of  the  dif- 
ferent methods.  Testing  3,000  children  of  the  third 
to  the  eighth  grades  in  German  schools,  as  well  as  a 
number  of  older  students  taking  teacher  training 
courses,  he  found  that  the  percentage  of  mistakes  made 
for  the  various  kinds  of  presentations  were  as  follows: 

Table  XIH 

Percentage 
of  errors 

(1)  Hearing  (pupils  not  making  any  speech  movements)        3.04 

(2)  Hearing  (pupils  repeating  silently) 2.69 

(3)  Hearing  (pupils  repeating  aloud) 2.25 

(4)  Seeing  (pupils  not  making  any  speech  movements)...        1.22 

(5)  Seeing  (pupils  repeating  silently) 1.02 

(6)  Seeing   (pupils  repeating  aloud) 0.95 

(7)  Copying  (pupils  repeating  silently) 0.54 

Good  spelling  dependent  on  careful  observation  of 
the  details  of  words.  —  It  appears,  therefore,  that  the 
visual  method  of  presentation  is  superior  to  oral,  and 
that  copying  is  superior  to  both.  Lay  holds  that  his 
results  show  the  great  importance  of  the  motor  factors, 
since  in  each  case  the  more  pronounced  these  factors 
were  the  better  the  results.  It  seems  probable,  how- 
ever, that  the  superiority  of  these  results  is  due  not 
so  much  to  the  presence  of  the  motor  factors  as  such 
as  to  the  fact  that  by  pronouncing  the  letters  the  words 


SPELLING  281 

are  more  completely  analyzed  into  their  constituent 
letters.  Copying  makes  this  sort  of  analysis  very 
thorough-going,  since  each  letter  must  be  written  more 
or  less  independently.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  words 
used  by  Lay  were  phonetic  in  their  character,  yet  the 
visual  method  of  presentation  was  found  to  be  superior 
to  the  auditory.  If  this  result  obtains  with  words  that 
are  spelled  as  they  sound,  it  may  be  expected  that  the 
visual  method  is  even  more  important  in  the  spelling 
of  English  words,  so  many  of  which  are  of  a  non- 
phonetic  character.  Indeed,  the  habit  of  visual  an- 
alysis of  words  is  of  fundamental  importance  if  a  person 
is  to  be  a  good  speller  of  English  words.  The  good 
speller  is  one  who  has  acquired  this  habit  with  respect 
to  all  new  words  that  he  meets. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the 
recognition  of  the  sound  elements  leads  to  a  ready  and 
facile  acquirement  of  spelling  ability  in  most  cases. 
Those  combinations  of  letters  into  syllables  which  are 
phonetic  in  character  and  which  occur  frequently,  like 
-ent,  -ly,  -Hon,  etc.,  when  once  learned  by  correspond- 
ence of  sound  and  letter  serve  to  lighten  the  task  that 
would  otherwise  be  more  difficult  by  the  method  of 
visual  analysis  alone.  In  other  words,  dividing  words 
into  syllables,  when  these  have  definite  sound  values, 
makes  the  unit  of  perception  and  memory  longer  than 
the  single  letter  and  makes  it  more  comparable  with 
the  unit  that  is  used  in  reading. 

Individual   differences   in  spelling.  —  It   must   be 


282  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

remembered  that  the  above  results  are  based  on  aver- 
ages of  many  individuals  taken  in  the  mass.  It  does 
not  follow  that  each  individual  of  the  mass  will  learn 
spelling  most  effectively  by  the  methods  suggested. 
Individual  differences  are  so  great  that  there  will 
always  be  some  pupils  for  whom  the  methods  best 
adapted  for  the  class  in  general  will  be  inappropriate. 
Since  spelling  depends  on  the  revival  of  memory 
images  of  the  word  to  be  spelled,  the  individual  dif- 
ferences in  mental  imagery  will  undoubtedly  have  their 
influence  on  the  effectiveness  of  the  method  used.  If 
the  pupil  is  weak  in  visual  imagery  the  method  of 
visual  presentation  may  be  of  little  value,  while  to 
another  habits  of  phonetic  analysis  will  be  relatively 
unimportant. 

Two  methods  are  possible  in  order  to  avoid  this 
difficulty.  One  is  by  the  method  of  so-called  multiple 
appeal,  that  is,  by  the  use  of  all  methods  of  presenta- 
tion, so  that  if  one  is  not  effective  another  may  be. 
Such  methods  are  obviously  wasteful.  The  second 
method  is  that  of  diagnosis  of  the  source  of  difficulty 
in  individual  cases  and  the  application  of  methods  in 
accordance  with  the  diagnosis.  It  must  always  be 
remembered,  further,  that  few  cases  exist  where  defects 
are  so  serious  in  the  use  of  any  type  of  mental  imagery 
that  they  cannot  be  overcome  by  special  training. 
Indeed,  what  needs  to  be  trained  in  all  pupils  is  not 
so  much  the  ability  to  spell  individual  words  as  the 
habit  of  dealing  with  all  words  in  a  manner  that  will 


SPELLING  283 

lead  to  their  correct  spelling.  Some  pupils  readily 
learn  this  general  habit,  but  relatively  few.  If  more 
attention  were  given  to  instructing  pupils  how  to  deal 
with  words  for  purposes  of  spelling,  much  less  time 
need  be  spent  on  individual  words.  This  is  the  reason 
why  there  seems  to  be  so  little  relation  between  the 
time  spent  in  drill  on  spelling  and  the  results  accom- 
plished, as  shown  by  a  number  of  investigations, 
notably  those  of  Rice  and  Cornman. 

Without  doubt,  special  drill  is  necessary  on  a  certain 
limited  number  of  words  in  most  common  use,  but 
beyond  this  the  acquirement  of  the  ability  to  analyze 
words  phonetically  or  visually  or  both  is  absolutely 
necessary  if  the  pupil  is  to  become  a  good  speller. 
It  is,  therefore,  important  not  only  that  mistakes  be 
corrected,  but  also  that  the  kinds  of  mistakes  that 
occur  in  individual  cases  be  studied  with  a  view  to 
overcoming  faults  of  learning  and  of  writing.  In  other 
words,  instruction  in  how  to  study  the  spelling  of 
words  is  of  as  much  importance  as  the  learning  of 
individual  words  through  drill  and  testing. 

Most  practice  in  spelling  should  be  by  means  of 
writing.  —  Since  the  form  in  which  spelling  is  a  useful 
capacity  is  in  writing,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
any  testing  should  be  made  in  writing,  and  that  oral 
spelling  is  a  relatively  inefficient  form  of  motor  re- 
action in  clinching  the  results  of  the  learning.  Further- 
more, it  is  well  known  to  all  who  have  observed  school 
children  that  ability  to  spell  words  in  columns  is  no 


284  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

safe  guaranty  of  ability  to  spell  them  correctly  in 
sentences.  One  reason  for  this  is  that  in  spelling  in 
sentences  the  attention  of  the  pupil  is  much  more 
occupied  with  the  meanings  of  words  than  when  writing 
them  separately  in  columns.  Again,  lapses — those 
peculiar  mistakes  in  association  that  cause  a  person 
to  write  one  letter  when  another  is  intended — are  much 
more  likely  to  occur  under  conditions  of  the  writing  of 
words  in  sentences. 

Value  of  rules.  —  The  question  of  the  value  of  rules 
in  spelling  has  been  much  debated.  A  rule  thoroughly 
understood  is,  in  general,  a  valuable  short-cut  to  knowl- 
edge. It  is  essentially  an  idea  or  group  of  ideas,  and 
has  the  advantage  in  learning  that  we  have  already 
seen  attached  to  such  mental  processes.  In  the  case 
of  the  spelling  of  English  words,  however,  the  number 
of  rules  that  apply  and  are  simple  enough  to  under- 
stand are  very  few.  Most  spelling  rules  have  so  many 
exceptions  that  only  those  of  most  general  application 
and  those  that  are  the  simplest  to  understand  should 
be  learned,  and  these  at  the  later  elementary  school 
period.  Their  value  is  chiefly  in  arousing  that  critical 
sense  toward  one's  own  spelling  which  is  essential  to 
the  habit  of  good  spelling. 

References 

Cook  and  O'Shea.     The  Child   and  His   Spelling. 
(Bobbs  Merrill,  1914.) 


SPELLING  285 

Starch,  D.    Educational  Psychology.    Chapter  XVIII. 

(Macmillan,  1919.) 
Suzzallo,  H.     The  Teaching  of  Spelling.     (Houghton 

Mifflin,  1913.) 
Tidyman,  W.  F.    The  Teaching  of  Spelling.     (World 

Book  Company,  1919.) 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
WRITING 

Writing  an  illustration  of  trial-and-error  learning. 
—  Learning  to  write  is  an  illustration  of  the  develop- 
ment of  a  sensori-motor  habit  largely  dependent  on  the 
trial-and-error  method,  which  has  already  been  de- 
scribed. It  may,  therefore,  be  expected  that  writing 
can  be  learned  only  by  a  large  amount  of  continual 
practice.  The  child  at  the  beginning  makes  many 
superfluous  movements  that  must  eventually  be 
eliminated,  and  the  many  muscles  that  at  first  do  their 
work  more  or  less  separately  must  be  coordinated  so 
as  to  cooperate  with  one  another.  Furthermore,  the 
whole  process  must  become  so  automatic  as  to  free 
the  attention  for  the  purpose  of  dealing  with  the 
meanings  that  are  to  be  expressed. 

Better  to  begin  with  word  wholes  rather  than  their 
elements.  —  In  beginning  to  write,  the  child  is  in 
reality  drawing  from  a  copy.  Logically,  all  written 
words  are  composed  of  letters,  and  these  in  turn  of 
lines.  It  seemed  to  the  early  educators,  therefore,  that 
the  process  of  learning  to  write  could  be  simplified  for 
the  child  by  teaching  him  at  first  to  draw  separately 
the  lines  of  which  the  letters  are  composed,  and  later 

286 


WRITING  287 

combine  them  into  letters  and  words.  A  psychological 
analysis,  however,  reveals  the  fact  that  words  are  no 
more  split  up  into  their  logical  elements  for  purposes 
of  writing  than  for  reading.  Just  as  in  the  case  of 
reading,  writing  is  the  more  efficient  to  the  degree  to 
which  words  are  responded  to  as  unitary  wholes. 
Writing  does  not  consist  in  the  joining  together  of 
separate  lines  or  even  letters,  but  in  the  writing  of 
entire  words  in  a  single  act.  Experience  shows  that 
the  child  develops  the  capacity  for  expressing  himself 
in  larger  writing  units  more  rapidly  and  with  no  injury 
to  form  if  he  is  habituated  to  respond  to  entire  words 
from  the  beginning. 

R61e  of  visual  and  muscular  sensations.  —  At  first, 
when  it  is  still  necessary  to  place  the  copy  before  the 
child  for  his  guidance,  visual  and  muscular  sensations 
cooperate  to  produce  the  results.  Eventually  the 
muscular  sensations  will  become  the  chief  cue  to  move- 
ment, and  vision  will  be  chiefly  concerned  in  general 
oversight  of  the  process — the  spacing  and  alignment 
of  the  words  as  they  are  being  written  and  criticism 
of  the  spelling  of  words  already  written. 

Relation  between  form  and  speed.  —  The  relation 
between  the  form  and  movement  in  writing  is  one  of 
the  problems  that  must  be  taken  into  consideration 
in  both  the  beginning  and  later  periods  of  practice. 
In  general,  writing  at  a  speed  greater  than  one's  normal 
rate  causes  deterioration  in  form.  Studies  of  writing 
abilities  show,  however,  that  the  more  rapid  writers 


288  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

are,  on  the  average,  better  writers  from  the  stand- 
point of  form.  Since  form  is  relatively  unimportant 
provided  legibility  is  not  sacrificed,  the  aim  in  the  later 
years  of  practice  in  writing  would  seem  to  be  that  of 
increasing  one's  normal  rate  of  movement  to  the 
highest  point  consistent  with  legibility. 

In  beginning  writing,  on  the  other  hand,  the  em- 
phasis should  be  in  the  other  direction.  The  aim  of 
the  child  at  first  must  be  to  produce  as  exact  a  repro- 
duction of  the  copy  before  him  as  possible.  He  needs 
to  learn  how  it  feels  (muscular  sensations)  to  produce 
the  right  movements.  He  also  needs  to  build  up 
correct  visual  images  of  letter  shapes.  If  he  is  allowed 
to  repeat  unsatisfactory  forms  over  and  over  again 
the  practice  defeats  its  own  end,  since  it  will  ultimately 
be  necessary  to  break  up  the  bad  habits  being  formed. 

Writing  involves  many  groups  of  muscles.  —  If  all 
the  muscles  more  or  less  directly  concerned  in  writing 
are  taken  into  account,  they  undoubtedly  number 
several  hundred.  When  it  is  remembered  that  all 
these  must  be  coordinated  and  that  there  are  no  purely 
instinctive  adjustments  directly  applicable  to  writing, 
it  will  be  seen  how  difficult  a  task  the  child  faces  in 
learning  to  write. 

Holding  the  pen.  —  Let  us  examine  some  of  the 
principal  movements  that  must  be  executed  in  writing. 
First  of  all  it  is  necessary  to  grasp  the  pen-holder  or 
pencil  in  a  certain  way.  This  is  ordinarily  accom- 
plished by  the  combined  action  of  the  thumb  and  the 


WRITING  289 

first  and  second  fingers.  Many  children  have  learned 
to  hold  the  pencil  in  approximately  the  correct  fashion 
before  entering  school  in  their  early  attempts  at 
writing  and  drawing;  but  in  any  event  it  must  be 
learned,  the  natural  method  of  holding  such  objects 
being  by  the  reflex  grasping  movements  of  the  whole 
hand,  which  is  entirely  unsuitable  for  writing. 

Forming  the  letters.  —  Next,  consider  the  move- 
ments that  are  directly  responsible  for  the  forming  of 
the  letters.  It  is  entirely  possible  to  form  the  letters 
by  movements  of  the  arm  as  a  whole,  using  the  shoulder 
joint  as  an  axis.  This  is  the  natural  method  in  pro- 
ducing very  large  letters,  and  also  where  no  support 
for  the  arm  is  provided,  as  when  writing  on  the  black- 
board. Writing  on  the  blackboard  is  advocated  for 
beginners,  on  the  ground  that  in  this  way  the  letter 
shapes  may  be  learned  and  produced  by  movements 
of  the  shoulder  muscles,  and  that  these  muscles  are 
much  less  easily  fatigued  than  the  muscles  controlling 
finger  movements. 

Another  method  of  forming  the  letters  is  possible 
when  the  arm  is  supported  as  under  the  ordinary  con- 
ditions of  writing.  By  this  method  the  letters  are 
also  formed  by  movements  of  the  arm  as  a  whole,  but 
chiefly  of  the  fore-arm,  the  pivot  in  this  case  being  the 
large  muscle  of  the  fore-arm  on  which  it  is  resting. 
This  movement  of  the  fore-arm,  by  means  of  which  the 
backward  and  forward  movement  of  the  pen  as  well 


290  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

as  the  circular  movement  may  be  made  without  in- 
volving any  finger  movement,  is  known  popularly  as 
arm-movement  or  muscular  writing.  These  move- 
ments are  produced  by  the  muscles  in  the  part  of 
the  arm  between  the  elbow  and  shoulder. 

Finally,  the  form  of  the  letters  may  be  produced 
by  movements  of  the  fingers  alone.  Here  the  form  is 
produced  by  varying  degrees  of  pressure  and  relaxation 
of  the  fingers  as  they  cooperate  to  make  the  up-and- 
down  strokes  and  the  various  slants  and  curves. 


For  example,  a  downward  stroke  is  made  mainly 
by  the  pressure  of  the  first  finger  against  the  pen,  while 
the  thumb  and  second  finger  guide.  If  additional 
pressure  is  exerted  by  the  second  finger  the  line  will 
deviate  to  the  left.  To  produce  a  curve  such  as  that 
of  the  downward  stroke  of  the  c  there  must  be  an  excess 
pressure  exerted  first  by  the  second  finger  and  then  by 
the  thumb.  When  the  stroke  reaches  the  bottom,  the 
first  finger  must  relinquish  the  chief  role,  which  then 
passes  to  the  thumb.  If  the  next  upward  stroke  forms 
the  first  stroke  of  an  e,  for  example,  the  middle  finger 
first  gives  way  and  then  presses  against  the  thumb 
to  form  the  loop  at  the  top.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
the  next  letter  is  the  m,  the  second  finger  exerts  a 
somewhat  stronger  pressure  during  the  upward  stroke 
and  then  releases  it  at  the  top.  Such  is  the  ever- 
shifting  balance  of  forces  by  which  the  apparently 
simple  writing  movement  proceeds.  It  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  the  child's  pen  runs  off  the  track, 
and  the  precision  of  the  adult  writer  is  only  to  be 


WRITING  291 

ascribed  to  the  wonderful  efficiency  of  an  act  that  has 
become  a  habit  through  long  practice.1 


Arm  movement  vs.  finger  movement.  —  The  rela- 
tive advantages  of  the  use  of  finger  and  arm  move- 
ments to  produce  the  forms  of  letters  is  a  question  on 
which  as  yet  there  cannot  be  said  to  be  unanimity 
of  opinion.  Some  experts  hold  that  finger  movements 
should  be  totally  excluded  if  writing  efficiency  is  to 
reach  its  highest  level.  It  is  held  that  finger  move- 
ments are  fatiguing  and  that  those  who  do  most  writing 
learn  this  and  tend  to  eliminate  the  fingers  from  the 
work  of  writing  except  for  the  purpose  of  holding  the 
pen-holder. 

Against  this  view  it  may  be  urged  that  the  fingers 
are  more  adapted  for  making  such  finely  graded  move- 
ments as  those  leading  to  letter  formation  than  are 
the  coarse,  heavier  muscles.  Children  naturally,  when 
uninstructed,  use  the  fingers  for  this  purpose,  and  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  get  them  to  use  the  arm  move- 
ment at  the  age  when  they  usually  begin  to  write. 
Furthermore,  relatively  few  pupils  ever  succeed  in 
entirely  eliminating  finger  movements,  and  many  of 
those  who  do  fall  back  into  the  old  habit  as  soon  as 
the  period  of  special  training  has  passed. 

Carrying  the  arm  across  the  page.  —  Next  in  impor- 
tance to  the  movement  of  the  fingers  or  arm,  or  both 
combined,  to  produce  the  form  of  the  letters,  come  the 

1  Freeman,  F.  N.    Tbe  Psychology  of  Handwriting. 


292  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

movements  that  carry  the  hand  forward  across  the 
page.  These  movements  may  be  made  by  the  fore- 
arm, with  the  elbow  as  the  center  of  rotation  of  the 
movement,  or  with  the  muscle  on  which  the  arm  rests 
as  the  center.  Another  method  found  in  many  writers 
is  that  of  lifting  the  arm  and  thus  shifting  it  along. 
Authorities  are  pretty  well  agreed  at  the  present  time 
that  the  use  of  the  muscle  pad  as  the  pivot  is  the 
most  economical  method  of  producing  this  movement, 
since  it  can  be  made  in  this  manner  without  inter- 
rupting the  continuous  progress  of  the  writing. 

Pronation.  — -  Still  another  movement  enters  directly 
into  the  writing  activity.  It  is  clear  that  the  hand 
must  not  simply  move  across  the  page  with  either  the 
elbow  or  muscle  pad  as  the  center  of  the  movement, 
for  if  it  does  it  cannot  keep  the  writing  on  a  level  line, 
nor  can  a  uniform  slant  of  the  writing  be  maintained. 
The  only  way  to  accomplish  these  results  without 
lifting  the  arm  is  by  the  movement  of  pronation.  As 
the  hand  proceeds  from  left  to  right,  in  the  writing 
of  most  adults  it  tends  to  rotate  in  such  a  way  as  to 
keep  the  hand  always  prone  or  flat. 

Good  writing  rhythmical  in  character.  —  Besides 
these  actions,  which  are  more  directly  present  in  bring- 
ing about  the  writing  results,  there  are  many  other 
muscular  activities  indirectly  concerned,  such  as  those 
of  keeping  the  body  in  the  proper  position.  Before 
the  writing  habit  is  perfected  all  of  the  muscular 
activities  must  be  properly  coordinated.    Nothing  is 


WRITING  293 

more  characteristic  of  the  beginner's  writing  move- 
ments than  this  lack  of  coordination.  The  child's 
effort  to  produce  results  is  accompanied  by  a  very- 
general  state  of  muscular  tension.  The  discharge  of 
nervous  impulses  is  at  first  in  part  into  muscles  that 
have  no  relationship  to  the  production  of  the  writing 
movement.  Many  children  roll  their  heads  from  side 
to  side,  press  their  feet  strongly  against  the  floor,  or 
even  make  tongue  movements  while  they  are  writing. 
As  the  habit  becomes  more  ingrained  these  movements 
tend  to  disappear.  Again,  the  movements  more  di- 
rectly concerned  in  the  writing  are  at  first  incoordi- 
nated.  Instead  of  making  the  sweeping,  continuous 
movement  of  the  adult,  the  child  proceeds  by  a  series 
of  intermittent  short  movements.  Even  single  strokes 
of  letters  require  separate  movements  for  their  pro- 
duction in  many  cases,  whereas  with  the  adult  the 
whole  word  or  in  some  cases  phrases  are  written  with- 
out any  interruption  to  the  onward  flow  of  the  writing. 

Careful  studies  of  the  writing  of  adults  show  that 
the  more  efficient  writers  in  reality  proceed  by  a  series 
of  rhythmical  actions,  and  this  is  perhaps  the  most 
characteristic  difference  between  the  writing  of  the 
adult  and  that  of  the  child.  Devices  to  help  the  child 
to  acquire  this  rhythmical  motion,  such  as  counting, 
etc.,  further  the  child's  progress  in  extending  the 
writing  unit. 

Usefulness  of  writing  scales.  —  Recent  investiga- 
tions of  writing  by  means  of  standard  tests  and  the 


294  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

use  of  writing  scales  have  done  much  to  put  the  subject 
of  writing  instruction  on  a  more  scientific  basis.  Such 
investigations  have  banished  the  belief  that  slow, 
laborious  writing  movements,  resulting  in  beauty  of 
form,  are  worth  being  cultivated.  The  aim  in  writing 
is  the  production  of  legible  characters  at  an  efficient 
speed  and  with  economy  of  effort.  Even  with  respect 
to  speed,  instruction  in  writing  may  become  too 
formal.  It  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  the  advice  of 
Thorndike  that  pupils  be  released  from  writing  in- 
struction and  allowed  to  devote  the  time  to  learning 
typewriting,  after  they  have  reached  a  reasonable 
degree  of  proficiency  in  speed  and  form,  is  sound. 

References 

Freeman,  F.  N.  The  Teaching  of  Handwriting. 
(Houghton  Miftlin,  1914.)  The  Handwriting  Move- 
ment.    (University  of  Chicago  Press,  1918.) 

Thompson,  M.  E.  Psychology  and  Pedagogy  of 
Writing.     (Warwick  &  York,  Baltimore,  1918.) 

Thorndike,  E.  L.  Handwriting.  (Teachers  College, 
1915.) 


CHAPTER  XIX 

ARITHMETIC 

Numbers  illustrate  abstract  thought.  —  The  psy- 
chology of  arithmetic  affords  a  splendid  illustration 
of  the  nature  and  use  of  abstract  thought.  The  num- 
ber relationships  that  we  apply  to  objects  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  be  properties  of  the  objects  themselves. 
They  are  rather  ideas  or  concepts  that  the  mind  con- 
structs in  order  to  think  of  objects  in  certain  useful 
ways.  In  this  respect  number  relationships  differ 
very  much  from  the  colors  and  other  sensory  qualities 
of  objects.  We  apply  the  numerical  relations  to  the 
objects,  but  in  so  doing  the  mind  rather  imposes  its 
scheme  of  things  upon  the  objects,  whereas  the  latter 
seem  to  impress  their  sensory  qualities  from  without. 

Number  ideas  have  developed  gradually.  —  Accord- 
ingly, number  ideas  have  been  evolved  very  gradually 
under  the  impetus  of  practical  usefulness,  and  in  the 
end  complex  relationships  are  worked  out  that  are  so 
purely  abstract  as  to  be  believed  to  be  true  wholly 
apart  from  any  application  to  objects.  Number  is  thus 
an  abstract  system  of  relationships  constructed  by  the 
mind  because  of  its  usefulness  in  thinking  of  things  in 
this  way. 

The  history  of  the  gradual  evolution  of  number 

295 


296  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

systems  gives  a  fascinating  picture  that  well  illustrates 
how  man  has  progressed  in  his  conquest  of  nature  and 
in  the  art  of  perfecting  social  relationships.  This  has 
been  due  to  his  capacity  to  form  ideas  and  hand  them 
down  from  generation  to  generation,  with  gradual 
accretions  by  means  of  language. 

The  earliest  form  of  appreciation  of  quantitative 
relationships  is  merely  a  vague  feeling  of  more  or  less, 
which  it  is  probable  even  the  lower  animals  possess. 
Sometimes  this  is  the  direct  result  of  the  perception 
of  the  difference  in  size  of  spatial  magnitudes;  but  in 
other  cases,  where  there  is  a  series  of  similar  temporal 
events,  it  approximates  counting.  Thus,  two  series  of 
taps  may  be  distinguished  from  one  another  as  longer 
or  shorter  even  without  recourse  to  actual  counting. 

Counting  began  by  tallying.  —  There  is  much  evi- 
dence to  show  that  counting  originated  by  means  of 
a  system  of  tallies.  Vague  impressions  of  differences 
in  size  are  not  suitable  to  the  practical  demands  of 
life.  If  a  person  has  a  large  flock  of  sheep,  the  loss 
of  one  is  not  likely  to  be  known  unless  some  sort  of 
counting  is  resorted  to.  Man  began,  therefore,  under 
such  circumstances  to  lay  aside  certain  objects  such 
as  pebbles  (compare  calculate,  from  Latin  calcul — a 
stone),  which  were  easily  manipulated,  one  for  each 
object  that  was  to  be  counted.  It  was  natural  that 
the  fingers  should  be  used  frequently  as  a  convenient 
means  of  tally,  and  it  is  undoubtedly  due  to  this  fact 
that  our  number  system  is  a  decimal  system. 


ARITHMETIC  297 

Tallying  is  thinking  in  symbols.  —  The  important 
aspect  of  tallying  from  the  psychological  point  of  view, 
however,  is  that  here  we  are  dealing  with  the  beginnings 
of  that  abstract  mode  of  thinking  which  gradually 
became  more  and  more  abstract  in  character,  and  finally 
developed  into  the  complex  series  of  number  relation- 
ships that  we  now  possess.  When  primitive  man  had 
come  to  the  point  where  he  laid  aside  objects  of  one 
sort  to  represent  or  symbolize  others,  he  had  come  to 
realize  that  for  purposes  of  his  own  thinking  he  could 
treat  the  one  set  of  objects  as  if  they  were  the  other. 

Counting  arises  from  putting  objects  and  symbols 
in  related  series.  —  Connected  with  this  process  of 
symbolizing  one  group  of  things  by  another  is  a  further 
process  which  is  at  the  root  of  the  appreciation  of  all 
number  relationships.  It  is  not  only  as  a  mass  that 
the  group  of  pebbles  represents  the  flock  of  sheep,  but 
each  pebble  stands  for  a  particular  sheep,  if  both 
pebbles  and  sheep  are  arranged  in  order  and  no  pebble 
or  sheep  is  thought  of  more  than  once.  The  next  step 
naturally  follows  as  soon  as  this  is  recognized.  Objects 
are  not  necessary  for  symbols.  Words  will  accomplish 
the  same  purpose  much  more  conveniently.  A  name 
is  given  to  each  position  of  the  individual  member  of 
any  group  of  objects  when  arranged  in  a  series.  Thus 
arose  counting,  which  is  merely  placing  each  object 
over  against  the  series  of  number  names  each  of  which 
stands  for  a  definite  place  in  the  series. 

Counting  implies  considerable  abstract  thought,  for 


298  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

it  means  that  attention  selects  out  the  single  aspect  of 
order  and  disregards  all  the  other  characteristics  of 
the  objects.  Accordingly,  we  find  that  some  primitive 
tribes  have  not  developed  number  names  beyond  three 
or  four,  and  frequently  are  unable  to  grasp  number 
relationships  beyond  this  point. 

Advantage  of  Arabic  system  over  Roman.  —  In 
counting  more  than  ten  on  the  fingers  the  same  fingers 
must  be  used  a  second  time,  and  it  is  natural  to  use 
them  in  the  same  order  as  in  counting  the  first  ten. 
Hence  arises  the  conception  of  the  second  ten  being 
merely  a  second  group  of  the  same  sort  as  the  first. 
The  Arabic  system  takes  ingenious  advantage  of  this 
fact  by  giving  to  each  position  in  the  second  series  the 
same  name  and  symbol  as  it  has  in  the  first  series  of 
ten  and  indicating  the  number  of  tens  by  placing  two 
in  front  of  the  units  number  and  so  on  for  each  suc- 
ceeding series  of  ten.  The  Roman  system  failed  to 
obtain  flexibility  and  ease  of  manipulation  by  reason 
of  the  absence  of  the  zero  in  representing  ten. 

The  fundamental  operations  come  from  various 
methods  of  grouping.  —  Further  manipulation  of  num- 
bers beyond  this  point  in  the  form  of  the  simple  arith- 
metical processes  takes  place  by  grouping.  Eight  may 
be  divided  into  two  groups  of  seven  and  one,  six  and 
two,  five  and  three,  etc.  If  these  groups  are  conceived 
as  coming  together  we  have  the  process  of  addition; 
if  one  of  them  is  conceived  as  being  split  off  from 
the  main  group  we  have  the  process  of  subtraction. 


ARITHMETIC  299 

In  multiplication  and  division  we  are  dealing  with 
equal  groups.  If  the  equal  groups  are  thought  of  as 
being  placed  together  to  form  the  main  group  we  have 
multiplication;  if  they  are  thought  of  as  successively 
split  off  from  the  main  group  we  have  division.  Thus 
dealing  with  numbers  becomes  more  and  more  abstract. 
Beginning  with  a  definite  reference  to  objects,  a  way 
of  thinking  has  been  reached  that  gives  us  a  series  of 
relationships  which  may  be  manipulated  in  thought 
in  various  ways  without  any  reference  to  objects. 
Finally,  in  algebra  a  still  more  abstract  system  arises 
in  which  the  symbols  are  even  more  general  and  do  not 
stand  for  any  definite  order  in  the  number  series. 

Early  number  ideas  of  children.  —  What  the  race 
has  achieved  by  a  slow  and  gradual  process  the  child 
now  is  able  to  acquire  in  a  relatively  short  time,  because 
it  is  handed  down  to  him  ready-made.  The  earliest 
beginnings  of  anything  akin  to  number  consciousness 
in  the  child  come  in  connection  with  the  recognition 
of  gross  differences  of  more  or  less  which  are  based 
on  the  perception  of  size.  The  missing  of  one  or  more 
articles  from  a  group  by  a  child  is,  of  course,  no  clear 
indication  of  a  number  consciousness,  but  it  is  the 
first  vague  beginning  of  an  ability  to  remember  and 
conceive  in  a  quantitative  way.  Children  who  learn 
the  number  names  used  easily  learn  to  repeat  them 
from  one  to  ten  in  a  mechanical  way,  though  at  first 
with  no  suggestion  that  they  can  count  in  the  true 
sense  of  the  word.     In  their  first  attempts  at  counting 


300  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

children  frequently  point  to  the  same  object  more  than 
once,  showing  that  the  principle  of  serial  arrangement 
is  but  vaguely  apprehended.  While  in  many  cases 
children  are  able  to  count  accurately  on  entering  school, 
the  statement  is  made  that  on  the  average  six-year-old 
children  do  not  comprehend  beyond  three  or  four. 

Usefulness  of  objective  methods  limited.  —  The 
natural  procedure  in  further  development  of  the  child's 
ideas  of  number  when  he  enters  school  is  by  perfecting 
his  ability  to  count.  The  degree  to  which  this  as  well 
as  all  other  phases  of  arithmetical  operations  should  be 
developed  by  means  of  objective  methods  of  teaching 
will  be  determined  by  a  correct  understanding  of  the 
nature  of  the  psychological  principles  of  the  number 
consciousness.  As  we  have  seen,  numbers  are  concepts 
that  to  a  peculiar  degree  are  capable  of  being  treated 
as  if  entirely  independent  of  objects.  On  the  other 
hand,  like  all  concepts,  they  find  their  origin  in  the 
concrete  experiences  of  life  and  find  their  application 
there.  Accordingly,  it  is  unnecessary  to  teach  every 
arithmetical  fact  objectively.  Only  so  much  of  objec- 
tive teaching  is  necessary  as  to  develop  correct  concepts 
and  to  enable  the  child  to  make  correct  application  to 
concrete  objects.  It  is  relatively  easy,  for  example, 
for  the  average  child  who  has  noted  objectively  that 
5  and  3  are  8  to  understand  the  import  of  6  and  2  are  8. 

One  form  of  objective  teaching  of  number  relations 
is  that  which  cultivates  the  ability  to  recognize  visually 
the  number  of  objects  in  a  group  immediately  and 


ARITHMETIC  301 

without  counting.  If,  for  example,  dots  are  used  as 
the  objective  material  and  these  are  arranged  in  similar 
groups,  large  numbers  may  be  recognized  at  a  glance 
after  a  little  practice.  Thus  the  following  groups  may 
be  readily  recognized  immediately  as  representing 
twenty- two : 


The  claim  is  made  that  children  are  more  positive 
in  their  fundamental  operations  if  this  ability  to  grasp 
groups  of  counters  visually  presented  has  been  de- 
veloped as  sharply  and  completely  as  possible.  The 
reason  for  this  seems  to  be  that  such  training  aids  in 
the  thorough  apprehension  of  the  various  grouping 
relationships,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  lie  at  the  basis 
of  the  fundamental  operations. 

Fundamentals  must  be  made  automatic  through 
drill.  —  As  long  as  the  child  has  to  resort  to  objective 
demonstrations  of  number  relations,  however,  number 
remains  a  clumsy  and  ineffective  device.  The  main 
aim  in  teaching  children  the  fundamental  operations 
of  arithmetic  is  the  formation  of  habits  of  unvaryingly 
accurate  and  immediate  response  to  all  of  the  forms 
in  which  numbers  may  be  combined.  This  can  be 
accomplished,  as  in  the  case  of  all  habit,  only  by  con- 
stant repetition  or  drill.  If  the  drill  can  be  relieved 
from  monotony  by  variations  of  method,  so  much  the 
better;  but  the  repetition  itself  is  essential. 


302  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

The  art  of  calculation  does  not  require  that  the 
reasons  for  each  step  be  understood.  —  For  a  similar 
reason  to  that  which  makes  too  great  an  emphasis  on 
objective  teaching  of  arithmetic  unwise,  it  is  also  un- 
wise to  be  too  insistent  that  the  child  understand 
thoroughly  the  reasons  for  all  the  steps  he  takes  in  his 
various  calculations.  The  dictum  that  a  child  should 
be  taught  to  understand  wherever  possible  does  not 
mean  that  he  must  never  be  taught  what  he  cannot 
understand.  Probably  a  very  small  proportion  of 
persons  who  are  able  to  perform  the  steps  of  the 
process  of  subtraction  understand  thoroughly  the 
reasons  for  the  device  of  borrowing.  To  arrive  at  the 
result  promptly  and  accurately  is  the  essential  thing. 
So  true  is  this  that  it  might  almost  be  said  that  some 
children  understand  the  arithmetical  relationships  too 
thoroughly.  Brighter  children  frequently  hit  upon  the 
device  of  getting  at  results  in  an  indirect  way.  Certain 
of  the  number  combinations,  for  reasons  not  well 
understood,  are  remembered  less  easily  than  others. 
Thus  a  child  may  know  immediately  that  8  X  8  =  64, 
but  not  what  is  the  result  of  8  X  9.  Accordingly,  if 
asked  to  multiply  9  by  8  he  arrives  at  the  result  in- 
directly, thus:  8  X  8  =  64;  64  +  8  =  72.  Obviously, 
habits  of  this  sort  do  not  make  for  efficiency,  but  they 
frequently  persist  and  are  even  resorted  to  in  adult 
life.  So,  too,  if  it  is  known  that  8  X  9  =  72,  it  is  easy 
for  the  child  to  see  that  9  X  8  =  72;  but  as  long  as 


ARITHMETIC  303 

the  process  of  reversal  is  resorted  to,  the  habit  falls 
short  of  the  perfection  to  be  desired. 

Combinations  need  to  be  drilled  in  all  their  various 
forms.  —  The  need  for  making  every  possible  number 
combination  in  addition,  subtraction,  multiplication, 
and  division  carry  with  it  an  automatically  correct 
response  extends  beyond  the  simple  combinations  to 
the  various  complex  forms  in  which  they  may  be  pre- 
sented. Courtis  has  shown,  for  example,  from  the 
results  of  extensive  tests,  that  single  column  addition 
of  three  figures  each  requires  a  different  series  of  habits 
from  those  needed  in  adding  thirteen  figures  to  the 
column.  Indeed,  Courtis,  on  the  basis  of  these  tests, 
enumerates  seven  different  forms  that  addition  may 
take,  three  for  subtraction,  six  for  multiplication,  and 
nine  for  division.  Each  of  these  complex  typical  forms 
needs  to  be  drilled  as  if  an  entirely  separate  operation. 

Problem-solving  involves  deductive  reasoning.  — 
Problem-solving  in  mathematics  affords  the  one  ex- 
ample of  purely  deductive  reasoning  of  the  ordinary 
school.  The  value  of  training  in  the  solution  of  prob- 
lems is,  or  should  be,  twofold.  In  the  first  place,  ability 
to  solve  arithmetical  problems  through  the  process  of 
reasoning  is  of  practical  value  to  the  degree  to  which 
these  problems  are  met  with  in  life  outside  of  the 
school.  Such  problems  can  be  solved  in  a  purely 
mechanical  way  without  the  proper  understanding  for 
the  reasons  underlying  the  various  steps  in  the  process. 
For  example,  the  application  of  the  principle  of  per- 


304  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

centage  to  interest,  discount,  etc.,  may  be  made  through 
the  use  of  memorized  formulae  the  derivation  of  which 
is  not  understood.  The  person  who  solves  problems 
by  such  merely  mechanical  methods  is,  however,  at  a 
disadvantage  in  a  number  of  ways.  He  puts  an  undue 
burden  on  his  memory  which  a  resort  to  reasoning 
would  make  unnecessary.  He  runs  the  risk  continually 
of  mistaking  the  formula  that  should  be  applied  to 
the  particular  instance  at  hand.  Every  one  who  has 
taught  arithmetic  to  children  has  observed  that  this 
difficulty  is  a  fundamental  one.  The  slightest  devia- 
tion from  the  usual  form  in  which  a  particular  kind 
of  problem  is  put,  even  a  slight  difference  in  wording, 
brings  fatal  results.  The  great  advantage  of  reasoning 
is  that  it  enables  the  person  to  discard  superficial  dif- 
ferences and  seize  upon  fundamental  principles  even 
when  the  data  are  novel. 

The  purely  deductive  character  of  reasoning  in  arith- 
metic is  seen  from  the  fact  that  one  problem  thoroughly 
understood  is  of  more  value  than  piling  up  illustration 
after  illustration  without  understanding.  The  latter 
method  will  indeed  defeat  its  own  end  if  it  leads  to 
the  adoption  of  a  mechanical  form  for  solving  such 
problems. 

The  further  advantage  of  training  in  the  solution  of 
problems  in  arithmetic  is  in  the  impetus  it  gives  to 
correct  thinking  in  general.  After  reading  what  has 
been  said  of  transfer  of  training  effects  in  a  preceding 
chapter,  it  will  be  at  once  recognized  that  this  state- 


ARITHMETIC  305 

ment  must  be  made  in  a  guarded  way.  In  no  other 
matters  can  we  come  to  the  same  kind  of  precise  and 
unshakable  conclusions  that  we  make  in  mathematics. 
In  no  other  field  is  the  reasoning  of  a  purely  deductive 
nature.  But  in  solving  problems  in  mathematics,  more 
than  at  any  other  point  in  his  elementary  school  work, 
the  child  comes  to  recognize  the  dependence  of  conclu- 
sions upon  premises  and  the  necessity  of  critically  ex- 
amining both  the  correctness  of  the  premise  and  the 
method  of  arriving  at  the  conclusion.  It  cannot  be 
doubted  that  this  attitude  of  critical  inquiry  may  and 
should  be  carried  over  to  other  subjects  than  arith- 
metic, even  though  it  is  true  that  in  many  instances 
this  does  not  take  place. 

Solving  simple  problems  should  be  begun  early.  — 
The  question  of  how  early  the  child  should  be  trained 
in  solving  problems  has  had  varying  answers  both  in 
practice  and  in  theory.  As  we  have  already  seen, 
there  is  no  good  ground  for  the  view  that  reasoning 
is  a  capacity  that  the  child  acquires  relatively  late  in 
life.  The  child  before  the  age  of  entering  school  can 
reason  in  respect  to  things  that  come  within  the  scope 
of  his  experience  and  that  do  not  involve  too  long  a 
series  of  steps.  Undoubtedly  there  are  very  great 
individual  differences  among  children,  as  among  adults. 
Fundamentally,  reasoning  requires  "sagacity,"  ■  which 
seems  to  be  largely  a  matter  of  inherited  capacity.  In 
general,  one  individual  differs  more  from  another  in 
the  more  complex  mental  processes  than  the  simpler. 


306  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

At  the  same  time,  there  is  little  doubt  that  improve- 
ment in  capacity  for  solving  problems  in  arithmetic 
would  take  place  if  more  stress  were  laid  on  this  train- 
ing in  the  early  grades  by  the  use  of  simple  material 
within  the  comprehension  of  the  pupils. 

Investigation  of  children's  ability  to  solve  problems. 
—  Bonser  gave  a  test  to  757  children  in  the  fourth, 
fifth,  and  sixth  grades  in  Passaic,  New  Jersey.  Each 
of  these  problems  required  three  steps:  "First,  the 
analysis  of  the  situation  by  which  the  essential  features 
of  the  problems  are  conceived  and  abstracted;  second, 
the  recall  of  an  appropriate  principle  to  be  applied  to 
the  abstract  problem,  a  search  among  various  principles 
which  may  suggest  themselves  for  the  right  one,  and, 
third,  involving  the  second,  the  inference,  the  recog- 
nition of  identity  between  the  known  principle  and 
the  new  situation."  Table  XIV  gives  the  most  general 
results  of  the  tests  in  terms  of  the  median  ability  of 
each  grade  for  boys  and  girls: 


Table  XIV 

Grades 

Boys 

Girls 

4A 

14.50 

11.36 

5B 

21.39 

15.66 

5A 

22.83 

19.00 

6B 

25.63 

24.08 

6A 

28.00 

25.92 

The  capacity  for  solving  problems  clearly  increases 
steadily  from  grade  to  grade.  Bonser  finds  that  the 
boys  are  superior  to  the  girls  in  each  grade,  though  the 
difference  becomes  increasingly  smaller  in  the  higher 


ARITHMETIC  307 

grades.  The  results  also  showed  that  three  boys  of 
grade  4A  and  nine  boys  and  four  girls  of  grade  5B  had 
an  ability  to  solve  these  problems  equal  to  or  greater 
than  the  median  boy  of  grade  6A. 

References 

Freeman,  F.  N.  The  Psychology  of  the  Common 
Branches.     Chapter  IX.     (Houghton  Mifflin,  1916.) 

Judd,  C.  H.  Genetic  Psychology  for  Teachers.  Chap- 
ter IX.     (Appleton,  1903.) 

Starch,  D.  Educational  Psychology.  Chapter  XX. 
(Macmillan,  1919.) 

Suzzallo,  H.  The  Teaching  of  Primary  Arithmetic. 
(Houghton  Mifflin,  1912.) 


CHAPTER  XX 

CONCLUSION 

The  aim  of  the  foregoing  chapters  has  been  to  show 
what  that  aspect  of  ourselves  which  we  call  mind  is  for, 
and  especially  to  show  how  the  answer  to  this  question 
is  related  to  the  process  of  education.  In  this  chapter 
the  attempt  will  be  made  to  sum  up  the  conclusions 
arrived  at  and  to  consider  the  general  significance  of 
what  has  been  learned.  These  conclusions  have  been 
implied  in  the  earlier  chapters,  but  may  have  been 
easily  overlooked  during  the  course  of  our  study  of 
details. 

Biological  view  of  man.  —  Man  can  be  best  under- 
stood if  considered  as  at  one  and  the  same  time  a 
part  of,  and  apart  from,  the  rest  of  nature.  Biological 
science  calls  attention  to  the  many  resemblances  be- 
tween the  bodily  structure  and  functions  of  human 
beings  and  those  of  the  lower  animals.  A  study  of  the 
behavior  of  the  lower  animals  shows  also  that  they 
are  governed  by  the  same  general  principles  of  action 
as  in  the  case  of  man.  But,  while  man's  kinship  with 
the  lower  animals  cannot  be  questioned,  and  the  sig- 
nificance of  his  life  activities  cannot  be  understood 
except  in  relationship  to  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  it 

308 


CONCLUSION  309 

is  a  grave  mistake  to  minimize  the  importance  of  the 
great  gulf  between  man's  nature  and  that  of  the  most 
highly  developed  of  the  lower  animals.  In  no  respect 
are  these  differences  more  marked  than  in  the  various 
forms  of  learning  that,  taken  together,  form  the  means 
of  education. 

Psychology  a  biological  science.  —  Psychology,  like 
biology,  may  adopt  as  its  fundamental  conception  for 
the  understanding  of  man  that  which  regards  him,  like 
all  other  living  organisms,  subject  to  a  constantly 
recurring  series  of  changes  due  to  the  necessity  of 
adaptation  to  environment.  All  animals,  including 
man,  are  provided  with  structures  and  functions  that 
make  it  possible  for  them  to  lead  a  more  or  less  inde- 
pendent existence.  If  the  environment  is  not  suitable 
or  is  inimicable  to  their  needs,  they  may  so  react  on 
it  as  to  change  it  in  some  cases,  or  in  others  to  move 
away  into  more  favorable  surroundings. 

The  biological  mechanism  for  producing  action.  — 
There  are  three  biological  functions,  which  all  animals 
possess,  that  are  primarily  responsible  for  the  mutual 
action  and  reaction  between  living  organisms  and  their 
environment — irritability  (sensitivity),  conductivity, 
and  contractility.  While  all  of  these  functions  are 
performed  by  the  same  cell  in  the  lowest  forms  of  life 
(the  unicellular  animals),  in  the  case  of  all  higher 
forms  than  these  the  cells  are  specialized.  Those  cells 
that  are  specialized  to  perform  the  function  of  irrita- 
bility are  situated,  for  the  most  part,  at  or  near  the 


310  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

surface  of  the  animal's  body.  In  higher  forms  of 
animals  they  take  the  form  of  special  sense-organs  and 
are  differentiated  so  as  to  be  affected  each  by  a  special 
form  of  environmental  change — contact  (touch),  ether 
vibrations  (vision),  air  vibrations  (hearing),  etc. 
Irritability  is,  then,  that  function  by  means  of  which 
environmental  happenings  affect  living  organisms. 
But  the  organism  affected  by  an  environmental  hap- 
pening is  not  merely  changed  thereby — it  reacts.  The 
reaction  is  due  to  the  functioning  of  the  contractile 
cells,  which,  taken  together,  in  the  case  of  higher  ani- 
mals constitute  the  muscular  system.  The  contractile 
cells,  except  in  the  case  of  very  low  forms,  can  function 
only  by  virtue  of  their  connection  with  irritable  cells, 
made  possible  by  the  interposition  between  them  of 
conductile  cells.  The  conductile  cells  taken  together 
form  the  nervous  system,  which  is  therefore  a  mech- 
anism for  conducting  the  effects  (nervous  impulses)  of 
environmental  changes  on  the  various  sensory  parts  of 
the  body  to  the  muscles.  The  goal  of  the  entire  series 
of  changes  is,  therefore,  muscular  action — not  merely 
muscular  action,  but  action  that  is  made  in  response 
to  what  is  happening  in  the  environment,  thus  serving 
to  adapt  the  animal  to  its  environment. 

Consciousness  an  adaptive  function.  —  Closely  re- 
lated to  the  adaptive  functions  already  mentioned  is 
the  function  of  consciousness,  which  appears  as  one  of 
the  links  in  the  chain  leading  from  impression  to  re- 
action.    At  just  what  point  in  the  development  of  the 


CONCLUSION  311 

animal  series  from  lower  to  higher  forms  this  function 
of  consciousness  makes  its  appearance  it  is  difficult  to 
say,  but  in  ourselves  we  have  come  to  recognize  it  as 
the  most  significant  aspect  of  our  existence.  It  is  true 
that  certain  adaptive  reactions  may  take  place,  as  in 
the  case  of  reflex  and  automatic  actions,  by  means  of 
the  mechanism  already  described — the  sense-organs, 
nervous  system,  and  muscles — without  the  presence 
of  consciousness.  Conscious  adaptations,  however,  are 
so  complex,  the  muscular  reactions  that  follow  them 
are  so  frequently  delayed  or  overlooked,  that  our 
thoughts  and  feelings  seem  to  have  an  importance  as 
existences  in  themselves,  apart  from  the  role  they  play 
in  relation  to  action.  Whatever  may  be  the  truth  as 
to  the  ultimate  nature  of  mind  is  a  problem  that  must 
be  left  to  philosophy  to  settle.  For  our  present  pur- 
poses it  must  be  regarded  as  a  function  of  organisms, 
the  purpose  of  which  is  to  enable  its  possessor  to 
adapt  his  behavior  to  environmental  conditions  on  a 
higher  plane  or  in  a  more  effective  fashion  than  would 
be  possible  without  it. 

Non-conscious  action  not  suitable  to  changing  con- 
ditions. —  The  significance  of  consciousness  may  be 
understood  by  considering  those  cases  of  adaptive  re- 
actions that  take  place  unconsciously.  The  typical 
cases  of  such  reactions  are  the  reflexes.  Take,  for 
example,  the  well-known  pupillary  reflex — the  widen- 
ing and  contracting  of  the  pupil  of  the  eye  in  response 
to  more  or  less  light.     Here  is  a  mechanism  clearly 


312  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

adaptive  in  its  function  which  operates  under  proper 
environmental  conditions  independently  of  conscious- 
ness. One  of  the  main  characteristics  of  this  reaction, 
and  of  all  reflex  action,  is  its  invariableness.  Given 
the  proper  stimulus,  the  reaction  follows  inevitably  and 
in  the  same  manner. 

Inadequacy  of  reflex  action.  —  Animals  low  in  the 
evolutionary  scale  exhibit  a  type  of  behavior  that  is 
almost  purely  reflex.  Their  life  conditions  are  rela- 
tively simple  and  unchanging.  It  is  conceivable  that 
the  higher  forms  of  life  might  have  been  constructed 
on  the  same  plan,  with  a  purely  reflex  response  to  adapt 
them  to  every  condition  that  the  changing  and  com- 
plex environment  would  present;  but  such  an  animal 
would  require  a  piling  up  of  reflex  mechanisms  to  a 
degree  making  the  nervous  systems  of  the  higher  forms 
of  animal  life  so  intricate  and  complex  that  such  a 
method  of  adaptation  is  scarcely  more  than  conceivable. 
Obviously,  the  more  varied  and  complex  the  environ- 
mental conditions  to  which  an  animal  must  respond, 
and  the  more  necessary  it  is  to  respond  to  the  ever- 
recurrent  changes  of  environmental  conditions,  the 
less  suited  is  the  invariable  form  of  response  for  the 
purpose. 

Significance  of  the  modification  of  instincts.  —  Ac- 
cordingly, we  find  a  somewhat  higher  type  of  response 
added  to  the  equipment  of  most  forms  of  animals — 
the  instinctive.  While  the  instinctive  reaction  is 
closely  allied  to  the  reflex,  it  is  more  complex  and, 


CONCLUSION  313 

especially  important  from  the  point  of  view  of  our 
study,  it  is  more  likely  to  become  modified  than  is  the 
reflex.  While  the  instinctive  reaction  as  such  is  in- 
variable, it  may  be  gradually  modified  so  as  to  conform 
to  changes  in  environmental  conditions.  Here,  then, 
we  have  the  simplest  form  of  learning,  that  is,  the 
modification  of  existent  forms  of  response  so  as  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  life  conditions  different  from  those 
for  which  the  instinctive  responses  were  created. 

Instincts  accompanied  by  simpler  forms  of  con- 
sciousness. —  The  instincts  are  accompanied  by  a  form 
of  consciousness — the  emotional — that  seems  primarily 
for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  the  "drive"  or  "urge"  for 
the  performance  of  the  instinctive  action  as  such;  but 
the  more  elementary  feeling  component  of  pleasure- 
pain  which  is  also  present,  seems  more  closely  related 
to  the  modification  of  the  instinctive  response. 

Trial-and-error  learning  as  a  form  of  conscious 
adaptation.  —  Even  in  low  forms  of  animal  life  there 
is  another  kind  of  learning  in  addition  to  the  modifica- 
tion of  instincts.  Most  animals,  when  confronted  with 
a  situation  that  is  strange  and  unfamiliar,  that  is,  a 
situation  for  which  the  usual  modes  of  response  are 
not  adequate,  will  behave  in  a  way  that  is  in  strong 
contrast  with  the  instinctive  mode  of  response.  In- 
stead of  a  clearly  purposeful  and  related  series  of  acts, 
as  in  the  case  of  instinctive  action,  there  is  under  such 
circumstances  a  large  number  of  apparently  useless 
and  unrelated  acts.     By  the  trying  out  of  these  various 


314       PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

acts  one  may  be  found  that  leads  to  a  satisfactory 
result.  A  repetition  of  a  similar  unfamiliar  situation 
calls  forth  similar  "hit-or-miss"  reactions;  but  each 
time  the  repetition  takes  place  the  successful  action 
becomes  more  prominent  and  the  unsuccessful  tends 
to  be  eliminated.  In  time  the  response  becomes  im- 
mediate and  definite,  as  in  the  case  of  the  instinctive 
reaction.  A  habit  has  been  formed  by  a  process  of 
"trial-and-error"  learning,  and  the  situation  is  no 
longer  unfamiliar  but  one  to  which  the  animal  has 
become  adapted  through  experience. 

In  human  beings  the  trial-and-error  form  of  learning 
is  accompanied  by  that  form  of  consciousness  which 
we  call  perception  and  feelings  of  pleasure  in  the  satis- 
factory result,  and  of  displeasure  in  those  actions  the 
results  of  which  are  unsatisfactory. 

The  role  of  consciousness  in  the  foregoing  forms  of 
learning  seems  to  be  limited  to  the  awareness  of  objects 
in  the  environment  (perception),  together  with  emo- 
tions and  feelings  that  spur  and  restrain  action. 
Something  of  the  nature  of  memory  must  also  be 
present,  since  the  effects  of  one  experience  must  be 
retained  in  order  that  modification  or  learning  may 
take  place.  Psychology,  however,  prefers  to  reserve 
the  word  "memory"  to  designate  those  forms  of  reten- 
tion where  there  is  a  conscious  recognition  of  the 
"pastness"  of  an  experience,  and  in  this  sense  memory 
is  not  a  necessary  accompaniment  of  the  forms  of 
learning  thus  far  described. 


CONCLUSION  315 

Ideational  learning  is  on  a  higher  plane.  —  It  is  in 
the  case  of  ideational  learning,  which  involves  all  the 
higher  forms  of  intellectual  processes — memory,  imag- 
ination, and  thinking — that  the  role  of  consciousness 
becomes  most  prominent.  While  it  is  perhaps  too 
extreme  to  say  that  man  is  the  only  animal  whose 
behavior  is  governed  by  ideas,  it  is  at  least  true  that 
because  of  the  extent  to  which  man  uses  this  type  of 
learning  there  is  a  very  great  difference  between  his 
adaptive  behavior  and  that  of  the  lower  animals.  The 
development  of  consciousness  reaches  its  highest  sig- 
nificance in  the  intellectual  life  of  human  beings. 

Function  of  language.  —  Language  is  both  a  means 
of  development  of  ideas  and  a  means  of  conserving 
ideas  and  conveying  them  from  one  individual  to 
another.  It  is  only  by  this  means  that  the  progress 
of  the  human  race  has  been  preserved  and  accelerated. 
Each  generation  adds  its  quota  of  ideas  to  those  of 
preceding  generations  and  hands  them  down  to  the 
next  generation  by  means  of  language.  The  period 
of  education  is  the  period  during  which  the  youth  of 
one  generation  is  acquiring  the  most  fundamental  ideas 
of  the  past.  These  ideas  have  gradually  been  arranged 
and  systematized  into  subjects  of  study. 

Evidence  remains  that  there  existed  on  the  earth 
many  thousands  of  years  ago  human  beings  whose 
physical  development  was  fully  equal  to  that  of  the 
best  developed  races  of  to-day.  Furthermore,  as  far 
as  can  be  told  from  the  shape  and  size  of  the  skull, 


316  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

the  mental  capacity  of  some  of  these  races  must  have 
been  equal  to  that  of  people  of  to-day.  If,  therefore, 
progress  has  taken  place  during  the  intervening  time, 
it  is  not  because  people  differ  fundamentally  from 
those  of  the  earlier  period,  but  simply  because  each 
generation  has  been  able  to  acquire  the  achievements 
of  past  generations  and  build  on  these  foundations. 
Thus,  by  a  process  that  has  been  aptly  called  social 
heredity,  man  preserves  the  learning  of  the  past  and  is 
able  to  build  upon  this  foundation  for  the  future. 

The  meaning  of  infancy.  —  Education,  therefore, 
becomes  a  necessity  both  for  the  individual  and  for 
society.  Primitive  society,  with  its  relatively  small 
stock  of  ideas  and  accomplishments,  can  afford  to 
educate  the  young  by  the  more  informal  means  of 
imitation  and  direct  oral  instruction  of  parents  and 
children.  But  as  society  and  its  institutions  and  activi- 
ties become  more  complex,  organized  means  of  in- 
struction become  necessary,  and  hence  arise  institutions 
for  the  formal  instruction  of  the  young.  During  this 
period  the  young  must  remain  in  a  state  of  infancy, 
that  is,  of  economic  dependence  on  the  parent.  As 
Butler  has  said,  in  summarizing  Fiske's  "Meaning  of 
Infancy" : 

The  entire  educational  period  after  the  physical 
adjustment  has  been  made,  after  the  child  can  walk 
alone,  can  feed  itself,  can  use  its  hands,  and  has,  there- 
fore, acquired  physical  and  bodily  independence,  is  an 
adjustment  to  what  may  be  called  our  spiritual  environ- 


CONCLUSION  317 

ment.  After  the  physical  adjustment  is  reasonably 
complete,  there  remains  yet  to  be  accomplished  the 
building  of  harmonious  and  reciprocal  relations  with 
those  great  acquisitions  of  the  race  that  constitute 
civilization;  and  therefore  the  lengthening  period  of 
infancy  simply  means  that  we  are  spending  nearly  half 
of  the  life  of  each  generation  in  order  to  develop  in 
the  young  some  conception  of  the  vast  acquirements 
of  the  historic  past  and  some  mastery  of  the  conditions 
of  the  immediate  present. 


APPENDIX 

The  material  of  this  Appendix  is  presented  to  the 
student  for  the  purpose  of  giving  him  a  clearer  under- 
standing of  the  nature  of  various  forms  of  tests.  It 
consists  of  (a)  A  general  intelligence  test;  (b)  A 
standardized  silent  reading  test,  and  (c)  A  standardized 
arithmetic  test.  Taken  together  these  tests  constitute 
the  so-called  Illinois  Examination,  devised  by  the 
Bureau  of  Educational  Research  of  the  University  of 
Illinois  and  given  extensively  to  pupils  of  public 
schools  in  Illinois  and  elsewhere.  The  forms  of  the 
tests  presented  here  are  used  for  grades  VI,  VII,  and 
VIII.  Other  forms  have  been  devised  for  grades  III, 
IV,  and  V.  Copies  of  the  tests  and  a  handbook  of 
directions  for  giving  and  scoring  the  tests,  etc.,  may 
be  purchased  from  the  Public  School  Publishing  Co., 
Bloomington,  111. 


319 


Illinois  Examination  II 
For  Grades  6.  7.  and  8 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

Urbana,    Illinois 

BUREAU  OF  EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH 

General    Intelligence,    Operations 
of  Arithmetic  and  Silent  Reading 

Name  _ _ , Boy  or  Girl. 

Age   last   birthday Next    birthday    will    be ... _ 

Grade  Date  . „ „  City  State 

School   _ Teacher   


Form   I 
Second   Edition. 
September    1920 


WRITE  PUPIL'S  SCORES  HERE 


General 
Intelligence 

Operations  of 
Arithmetic 

Chronological  Age 

Test 

Score 

Test 

Score 

Silent   Reading 

, 

2 „ 

Score 

A.  A. 

A  Q. 

2 _ _. 

Rate _ 



3 

4 _ 

5 



5 

6 

6   

Cor 

Total.. 

16    ... 

Total 

Mental 
Age 

Achieve- 
ment 
Age 

I.  Q. 

A.  Q. 

General  Directions 

This  booklet  contains  a  number  of  tests.  You  wrll  be  shown  them  one  at  a  time 
and  will  finish  each  one  before  you  see  the  next  one.  Read  the  directions  for  each 
carefully  and  when  the  signal  to  begin  is  given  turn  the  page  and  do  the  tests  as 
rapidly  as  you  can  but  remember  that  it  is  important  to  get  them  right. 

Do  not  turn  a  page  until  you  are  told  to  do  so. . 

Directions  for  Test  No.   1— ANALOGIES 

Look  at  this  line:     (a)   sky,  blue,  grass— table,     green,     warm,     big. 
.Notice  the   four  words  in  heavy  type.     One  of  them — green — has  a  line  drawn 
under  it.     Grass  is  green  just  as  the  sky  is  blue. 

Look  at  line  (b)  below:  A  fish  swims  and  a  man  does  what?  Draw  a  line  under, 
the  one  word  of  the  four  in  heavy  type  which  tells  what(a  man  does. 

Now  look  at  line  (c).  Night  means  the  opposite  of  day.  What  word  means  the 
opposite  of  white?     Draw  a  line  under  it. 

(b)  fish— swims  ::man— paper    time     walks     girl 

(c)  day— night::  white— red     black     clear     pure 

On  the  next  sheet  are  some  exercises  like  these.    The  first  two  words  in  each 

line  are  related  to  each  other  in  some  way.     Draw  a  line  under  the  word  in  heavy  type 

that  is  related  in  the  same  way  to  the  third  word.     Begin  with  the  first  line  and  do  as 

many  as  you  can  before  time  is  called.     Only  one  word  in  each  line  is  to  be  marked. 

Copyright  1920  by  Walter  S.   Monroe  and   B.   K.   Buckingham 


320 


Test  No.  1— ANALOGIES 

No.  Righ«  

1  eat — bread::  drink — water     iron     lead     stones 1 

2  finger — hand  : :  toe — box     foot     doll     coat •» .  2 

3  shoe — foot::  hat — kitten     head     knife     penny 3 

4  dress — women  : :  feathers — bird    neck     feet    bill ...»  4 

5  dog — puppy  ::  cat — kitten     dog     tiger     house „„.  5 

6  sit — chair::  sleep — book     tree     bed     see ■*  6 

7  foot — man  : :  hoof — corn    tree    cow    hoe ..-,  7 

8  handle — hammer::  knob — key     room     shut     door ,.,  8 

9  chew — teeth  ::  smell — sweet     stink     odor     nose 9 

10  bird — song  : :  man — speech    woman     boy     work 10 

11  sailor — navy ::  soldier — gun     private     army     fight 11 

12  legs — frog : :  wings — eat     swim     bird     nest 12 

13  man — home::  bird — fly     insect     worm     nest 13 

14  camp — safe : :  battle — win     dangerous     field     fight 14 

15  water — fish::  air — spark    man    blame    sleep 15 

16  pan — tin : :  table — chair     wood     legs     dishes 16 

17  tiger — wild::  cat — dog     mouse     tame     pig 17 

18  hospital — patient ::  prison — cell    criminal    bar    jail 18 

19  floor — ceiling: :  ground — earth     sky    hill     grass 19 

20  feather — float : :  rock — ages     hill     sink     break 20 

21  airplane — air::  submarine — dive     engine     ship     water 21 

22  cold — heat ::  ice — steam     cream     frost     refrigerator 22 

23  framework — house  : :  skeleton — bones    skull     grace    body 23 

24  carpenter — house::  shoemaker — hatmaker     wax     shoe     awl 24 

25  pretty — ugly : :  attract — fine    repel     nice    draw 25 

26  hour — day : :  day — night     week     hour     noon 26 

27  clothes — man  : :  hair — horse     comb     beard     hat 27 

28  darkness — stillness::  light — moonlight     sound     sun     window 28 

29  blow — anger : :  caress — woman    kiss    child     love 29 

30  imitate — copy::  invent — study    Edison    machine    originate 30 


Directions  for  Test  No.  2— ARITHMETIC  PROBLEMS 

On  the  next  sheet  there  are  a  number  of  Arithmetic  problems.  Get  the 
answers  to  them  as  quickly  as  you  can.  Write  each  answer  after  the  word 
"answer,"  as  in  the  problem  below. 

Mary  had  5  apples  and  gave  two  to  her  brother. 

How  many  had  she  left? , Answer  (  3  ) 


321 


Teat  No.  2— ARITHMETIC  PROBLEMS 

No.  Right  ._ , 

1  If  one  boy  has  10  fingers,  how  many  fingers  have 
six  boys  ? Answer 

2  There  are  15  children  in  our  class.     5  of  them  are  boys. 
'How  many  are  girls? • Answer 

3  We  learn  2  words  a  day  in  our  class. 
How  many  do  we  learn  in  8  days? Answer 

4  Jack  is  42  inches  tall  and  Fred  is  5  inches"  taller. 
How  tall  is  Fred? Answer 

5  Mr.  Gray  sold  ten  bags  of  flour  last  Saturday  at  2  dollars  a  bag. 
How  many  dollars  did  he  get  for  the  flour? Answer 

6  Anna,  Lizzie,  Sarah,  and  Carrie  shared  20  plums  equally. 
How  many  plums  did  each  get? Answer 

7  After  giving  9  cents  for  some  candy,  Helen  had  2  dimes 
remaining.     How  many  cents  did  she  have  at  first? Answer 

8  A  baseball  team  took  12  players  on  a  trip.    The  trip  cost  the 
team  $36.     How  much  was  that  for  each  player? Answer 

9  At  the  rate  of  a  mile  in  two  minutes,  it  takes  30  minutes  to  run 
from  one  station  to  another:  How  many  miles  apart  are  the 
stations  ? Answer 

10  Ned  sold  his  rabbit  for  30  cents.     This  was  3/5  of  what  he  paid. 
What  did  he  pay  for  the  rabbit? Answer 

11  In  a  trolley  car  there  were  29  people.  At  the  first  stop  8  got 
off  and  five  got  on ;  at  the  second  stop  13  got  off  and  ten  got  on. 
How  many  were  in  the  car  then? Answer 

12  How  many  cakes  at  seven  for  10  cents  can  I  buy  with  half 
a  dollar  ? Answer 

13  Albert  had  $1.50.     He  spent  1/5  of  it  for  a  bat. 
How  much  money  had  he  left? Answer 

14  Oil  was  bought  for  10c  a  gallon  and  sold  for  3c  a  quart. 
Find  the  gain  on  32  gallons. . . . : Answer 

15  Books  were  marked  $1  each.  Later  the  price  was  reduced  30 
cents.     Find  the  cost  of  5  books  at  the  reduced  price Answer 

16  A  merchant  buys  l/z  dozen  handsaws  at  $16  a  dozen.  How 
much  must  be  receive  for  the  lot  in  order  to  gain  fifty  cents 
apiece? Answer 

Directions  for  Test  No.  3— SENTENCE  VOCABULARY 

Look  at  this  exercise: 

Apples  grow  on  vines    roots    grass    trees. 

The  right  word  is  trees  because  it  makes  the  truest  sentence. 

In  each  of  the  exercises  below  you  have  four  choices  for  the  last  word. 
Only  one  of  them  is  correct.  In  each  sentence  draw  a  line  under  the  one  of 
these  four  words  which  makes  the  truest  sentence. 

People  can  see  through  wood    stone    glass    iron. 
The  ear  is  a  part  of  the  legs    arms    head    feet 
Deserts  are  crossed  by  -horses    mules    camels    elephants. 

On  the  next  sheet  are  a  number  of  exercises  like  these.  Begin  with  the 
first  and  do  as  many  as  you  can  in  the  time  allowed. 

322 


Test  No.  3— SENTENCE  VOCABULARY 

No.  Right  —__ . 

1  A  gown  is  a  string    animal    dress    plant. 

2  Haste  is  hurry    red    little    sweet. 

3  To  tap  is  to  run    fall    knock    smile. 

4  A  dungeon  is  open    bright    heavy    dark. 

5  Majesty  refers  to  dresses    kings    countries    climates 

6  Nerves  are  found  in  the  ground    sky    skin    hair. 

7  Plumbing  is  made  of  rubber    glass    fruit    pipes. 

8  A  man  is  afloat  in  a  mine    tower    boat    hospital. 

9  Pork  comes  from  pigs    sheep    cows    calves 

10  A  guitar  is  used  to  make  toys    glass    music    furniture. 

11  A  reception  is  a  show    party    game    sleep. 

12  To  snip  is  to  cut    sew    paste    tie. 

13  Staves  are  used  in  scales    barrels    painting    golf. 

14  To  regard  is  to  magnify    neglect    understand    consider. 

15  Skill  is  keenness    anger    grief    expertness. 

16  Disproportionate  amounts  are  rough     unequal     fair    equal. 

17  Mars  is  a  planet    country    goddess    actor. 

18  A  selectman  is  a  confederate    officer    conspirator    lawyer. 

19  Coinage  refers  to  seignior    bonds    currency    coincidence. 

20  A  forfeit  is  a  penalty    gift    valley    find. 

21  To  bewail  is  to  applaud    lament    beware    laugh. 

22  A  fen  is  a  upland    bushland    waste    marsh. 

23  To  tolerate  is  to  tax    multiply    record    permit. 

24  To  be  sapient  is  to  be  savory    wise    sardonic    questionable. 

25  A  milksop  is  a  flirt    pudding    prude    mollycoddle. 

26  The  lotus  is  a  lout    poison    water-lily    bird. 

27  To  drabble  is  to  soil    excite    crowd    twaddle. 

28  Ochre  is  a  nostrum    pigment    stone    monster. 

29  Ambergris  is  used  in  candles    fishing    medicine    perfumery. 

30  A  harpy  is  a  hobby    monster    litany    harpist. 

Directions  for  Test  No.  4 — SUBSTITUTION 

Look  at  the  sign  and  figure  in  each  of  the  following  circles: 

V)      ®      ®      ®      (2 

(a) [ED  <b)  M*l  I  I  (C)\d\r\y\  I  1  1 

Under  the  circles  are  some  exercises  having  the  same  signs.  Look  at  the 
exercise  (a).  Find  the  circle  in  which  this  sign  is  printed.  The  figure  3  is 
in  the  same  circle.  This  means  that  the  sign  in  exercise  (a)  stands  for  3. 
Write  the  figure  3  in  the  square  next  to  the  sign  to  which  it  belongs. — Look 
at  exercise  (b)  There  are  two  signs  in  this  exercise.  Find  the  figure  which 
is  in  the  same  circle  with  the  first  sign.  Write  this  figure  in  the  first  blank 
square. — Do  the  same  for  the  second  sign. — Look  at  exercise  (c).  Write  the 
figures  for  these  signs  in  the  three  blank  squares.  Write  them  in  the  order 
that  the  signs  come. 

On  the  next  sheet  are  some  different  signs  in  circles  and  below  the  circles 
these  signs  are  again  printed.  Write  after  each  sign  or  group  of  signs  the 
figures  which  belong  to  the  signs.  Look  back  at  the  circles  as  often  as  you 
need  to.  You  can  work  faster  after  you  have  learned  the  figure  that  goes 
with  each  sign.  Begin  with  the  first  sign  and  write  as  many  numbers  as  you 
can  in  the  time  allowed. 

323 


Test  No.  4— SUBSTITUTION 

No.  Right- 


*4  = 


3 

3 

3 

7 

3 

7 

3 

7 

3 

7 

3 

7 

3 

7 

7 

7 

1 

3 

J 

7 

J 

3 

3 

5 

7 

7 

3 

7 

7 

j/ 

7 

3 

7 

3 

3 

3 

7 

3 

3 

7 

3 

3 

3 

3 

7 

1 

3 

3 

7 

5 

3 

7 

3 

^ 

3 

3 

3 

7 

7 

7 

7 

_/ 

3 

J 

_7 

7 

7 

_7 

7 

-V 

7 

7 

3 

7 

3 

7 

jy 

7 

7 

7 

7 

3 

7 

7 

^ 

7 

7 

-7 

3 

3 

3 

J 

7 

3 

7 

3 

7 

3 

3 

7 

3 

7 

7 

7 

3 

_y 

7 

7 

7 

7 

7 

.7 

7 

7 

_y 

_/ 

7 

5 

7 

_y 

7 

_y 

7 

_7 

7 

7 

.7 

_V 

7 

7 

7 

7 

7 

3 

3 

3 

3 

3 

7 

7 

3 

7 

3 

3 

7 

J 

3 

7 

.7 

7 

Directions  for  Test  No.  5— VERBAL  INGENUITY 

Look  at  line  (a)  below.  The  words  of  this  line  are  "see  a  I  man  on." 
In  this  order  the  words  do  not  make  sense  but  they  can  be  made  into  a  sen- 
tence if  you  leave  out  one  word.  The  sentence  is  "I  see  a  man."  The  word 
to  be  left  out  is  on.  Draw  a  line  through  it.  In  each  of  the  other  lines  when 
one  word  is  crossed  out,  the  remaining  words  can  be  made  into  a  true  sen- 
tence.   Cross  out  the  extra  word  in  each  line. 

(a)  see  a  I  man  on. 

(b)  knife  chair  the  sharp  is. 

(c)  John  broken  window  trees  has  the. 

On  the  next  sheet  there  are  a  number  of  exercises  just  like  these.  Cross 
out  the  extra  word  in  as  many  of  the  exercises  as  you  can.  Remember  that 
only  one  word  in  each  line  is  to  be  crossed  out. 


324 


Test  No.  S-VERBAL  INGENUITY 

No.  Right  _- 

1  the  cat  at  see. 

2  boy  was  sky  the  sick. 

3  Bread  sweep  will  the  kitchen  I. 

4  are  going  yesterday  to-morrow  we. 

5  me  mine  give  my  straw  hat. 

6  brown  the  horse  come  is. 

7  my  suit  doHars  wear  twenty  cost  new. 

8  know  ice  big  boys  how  skate  to. 

9  their  soldiers  for  fight  gun  country. 

10  teacher  me  from  gave  a  pencil  my. 

11  brother  lamp  is  my  than  I  older  much. 

12  dusty  road  the  is  hot  and  miles. 

13  in  the  chalk  he  brightest  is  boy  class  out'. 

14  house  hard  to  is  climb  very  the  hill. 

15  broke  his  robin  the  flew  little  poor  wing. 

16  gave  me  candy  brother  my  of  knife  a  box. 

17  the  flood  roaring  valley  came  bridge  the  doWn. 

18  the  song  birds  flown  during  the  to  have  south. 

19  boy  gold  watch  brightest  over  get  the  will  a- 

20  I  not  Monday  do  to  bag  like  go  to  school  on. 

21  watch  summer  fhe  man  stole  is  jail  who  the  in. 

22  old  back  only  the  chair  legs  has  three.* 

23  told  girl  I  I  the  to  would  her  with  home  walk. 

24  man  whom  the  hat  saw  is  you  uncle  my  me  with. 

25  do  not  boy  the  I  like  who  me  school  in  sits  desk  behind. 


Directions  for  Test  No.  6— ARITHMETICAL  INGENUITY 

Look  at  line  (a)  below.  The  numbers  2,  4,  6,  8,  9,  10,  12  count  up  by- 
two's  except  the  number  9.  It  is  the  number  which  does  not  fit  in  this  group 
Cross  it  out.  In  each  of  the  other  lines  there  is  one  number  that  does  not  fit. 
Find  this  number  and  cross  it  out. 

(a)  2  4  6  8  9  10  12 

(b)  7  6  5  1  4  3  2 

(c)  1  2  4  8  16  17 

(d)  V  3  5  7  2  9  11 

On  the  next  page  there  are  a  number  of  exercises  just  like  these.  Do 
as  many  as  you  can  in  the  time  allowed.  Remember  that  only  one  number 
in  each  line  is  to  be  crossed  out. 


325 


Test  No.  6 — ARITHMETICAL  INGENUITY 

(1)  1    2    3    9    4    5  NaRiKht 

(2)  2    4    6    7    8 

(3)  9    8    7    6    5    2 

(4)  11     10    8    6    4    2 

(5)  5    7    10    15    20    25 

(6)  3    6    9    11     12    15 

(7)  19    18    17    16     13    15    14 
<8)  4    8     12     14    16    20    24 
(9)  16    8    4    3    2 

(10)  2    4    8     16    24 

(11)  27    24    21     19    18     15    12 

(12)  1    3    5    7    9    10    11 

(13)  2    4    8     10    16    32 

(14)  4    9    14    19    24    29  .  33 

(15)  2    3    6    12    24 

(16)  21     17    13    9    5    3    I 

(17)  36    18    9    3 

(18)  1     5    9    11     13    17 

(19)  1     3    9    18    27 

(20)  27    22    17    14    12    7 

(21)  3    9    27    54    81 

(22)  72    36     18    9    6 

(23)  84    77    70    65    63    56 

(24)  3    9    15    21    24    27 

(25)  3    6    9    12    24    48 


Directions  for  Test  No.  7— SYNONYM-ANTONYM 

Look  at  these  exercises: 

(a)  good — bad  same  opposite 

(b)  little — small  same  opposite 

(c)  rich — poor same  opposite 

In  exercise  (a)  good  means  the  opposite  of  bad.  This  i§  sTiown  by  a  line 
drawn  under  the  word  opposite.  In  exercise  (b)  little  means  the  same  as 
small.  Would  you  draw  a  line  under  same  or  opposite?  You  would  draw  it 
under  same.  In  exercise  (c)  do  rich  and  poor  mean  the  same  or  opposite? 
Draw  a  line  under  same  or  opposite  to  show  your  answer. 

On  the  next  sheet  there  are  a  number  of  exercises  like  the  ones  you  have 
just  done.  If  the  words  of  a  pair  mean  the  same  or  nearly  the  same,  draw  a 
line  under  Same.  If  they  mean  the  opposite  or  nearly  the  opposite  draw  a 
line  under  opposite.  Remember  you  are  to  draw  a  line  under  only  one  word 
in  each  line. 

326 


Test  No.  7— SYNONYM-ANTONYM 

No.  Ristht 


No.  Wrong ._.. 

Difference 


I 


1  high — low  ...r,*., ....same — opposite 

2  go — leave  . . . . same — opposite 

3  large — great  same — opposite 

4  bitter — sweet   same — opposite 

5  begin — commence  .-, same — opposite 

6  accept — take   same — opposite 

7  find — lose same — opposite 

8  expand — contract    same — opposite 

9  shrill — sharp  same — opposite 

10    fault — virtue   same — opposite 

1 1  command — obey same — opposite 

12  tease — plague    same — opposite 

13  similar — 'different same — opposite 

14  delicate — tender  same — opposite 

15  careless — anxious ••  .same — opposite 

16  diligent — industrious   same — opposite 

17  masculine — feminine    same — opposite 


3 
4 
5 

6 
7 

8 
9 
10 


18  concede — deny   same — opposite     18 

19  linger — loiter   same — opposite     19 

20  accept — reject  , same — opposite    20 

21  vanity — conceit   same — opposite  21 

22  appeal — beseech  same — opposite  22 

23  docile — refractory  same — opposite  23 

24  knave — villain   same — opposite  24 

25  confer — grant  ............. .same — opposite  25 

26  acquire — lose   same — opposite  26 

27  compute — calculate   same — opposite  27 

28  repress — restrain    .: same — opposite  28 

29  depressed — elated  ...same — opposite  29 

JO    hoax — deception    same — opposite  30 

31  reverence — veneration    ....same — opposite  31 

32  vilify — praise   same — opposite  32 

33  accumulate — dissipate   same — opposite  33 

34  apathy — indifference same — opposite  34 

35  contradict — corroborate  ...same — opposite  35 

36  comprehensive — restricted.,  same — opposite  36 

37  assiduous — diligent   same — opposite  37 

38  amenable — tractable- same — opposite  38 

39  suavity — asperity same— opposite  39 

40  encomium — eulogy    same — opposite  40 


327 


Test  II  Rate +  17  = 

Form  I 

■Comprehension:  ^_ —  +  -  4  ~ . 

MONROE'S  STANDARDIZED  SILENT  READING  TEST 

Second  Edition,  September.  1920 

FOR 

Grades  6,  7  and  8 


Below  there  are  three  exercises.  Under  each  exercise  there  is  a  row  of 
words  printed  in  bold  faced  type.  Each  exercise  asks  a  question.  You  are 
to  read  each  exercise  and  then  answer  the  question  by  drawing  a  line  under, 
the  right  word  printed  in  the  black  type. 

Read  the  following  exercises: 

(a)  I  am  a  little  dark-skinned  girl.  I  wear  a  slip  of  brown  buckskin 
and  a  pair  of  soft  moccasins.  I  live  in  a  wigwam.  What  kind  of  a  girl  do 
you  think  I  am? 

Chinese      French      Indian      African      Eskimo 
The  answer' to  this  exercise  is  "Indian,"  so  draw  a  line  under  Indian. 

(b)  Spring  is  the  time  for  planting  seeds.  They  grow 'fastest  in  sum- 
mer.    Autumn  is  the  harvest  time.     When  are  seeds  put  into  the  ground? 

Spring      Summer      Autumn      Winter 

The  answer  to  this  exercise  is  "Spring."    Draw  a  line  under  Spring. 

(c)  In  the  sunny  land  of  France  there  lived  a  sweet,  little  maid  named 
Piccola.  Piccola's  father  was  dead,  and  her  mother  was  very  poor.  Draw  a 
line  under  the  word  below  that  tells  in  what  country  Piccola  lived. 

Germany      Russia      France      England 

On  the  three  following  sheets  there  are  a  number  of  exercises  like  these 
to  be  read  and  answered.  When  the  signal  is  given,  turn  over  this  page  and 
begin.  Work  rapidly  but  remember  that  your  answers  must  be  right  in  order 
to  count.  Remember  that  you  are  to  draw  a  line  under  only  one  word  in 
each  exercise. 


328 


t.     It  was  the  garden-land  of  Antioch.     Even  the  hedges,  be- 

9  sides  the  lure  of  shade,  offered  passers-by  sweet  promises  of  wine 

20  and  clusters  of  purple  grapes.    Over  melon  patches,  and  through 

30  apricot  and  fig  tree  groves,  and  groves  of  oranges  and  limeSj  the 

42  whitewashed  houses  of  the  farmers  were  seen. 

49  What  kind  of  land  was  this? 

55  barren      hilly      productive      infertile      desert 

60  2.     It  was  cold,  bleak,  biting  weather;  foggy  withal;  and  he 

70  could   hear  the  people  in  the  court  outside  go  wheezing  up  and 

82  down,  beating  their  hands  upon  their  breasts  and  stamping  their 

92  feet  upon  the  pavement-stones  to  warm  them. 

99  What  kind  of  picture  does  this  paragraph  describe? 

107  comfortable       luxurious       cheerless       pleasant       exciting 

112  3.            "I,"  said  the  duck,  "I  call  it  fun, 

120  For  I  have  my  little  red  rubbers  on. 

128  They  make  a  cunning  three-toed  track 

134  In  the  soft,  cool  mud.    Quack  1  quack  1" 

141  Draw  a  line  under  the  word  which  tells- what  the  duck  likes. 

153  snow      sunshine      rain      wind      ice 

158  4     The  dog  lay  down.     The  rooster  few  to  the  top  of  a  tree 

171  and  the  cat  climbed  to  one  of  the  branches.     Before  they  went  to 

184  sleep  the  rooster  saw  a  light  in  the  forest.     He  called  to  his  friends. 

198  Where  was  the  light  the  rooster  saw? 

205  sky      house      barn      wagon      forest 

210  5             Shut  in  from  the  world  without 

216  We  sat  the  clean-winged  hearth  about, 

222  Content  to  let  the  north  wind  roar 

229  In  baffled  rage  at  pane  and  door. 

236  While  the  red  logs  before  us  beat 

243  The  frost  back  with  tropic  heat. 

249  Draw  a  line  under  the  word  which  best  describes  these  people 

260  frightened      cold       contented       hungry      gloomy 

265  6             O  suns  and  skies  and  clouds  of  June, 

273  And  flowers  of  June  together, 

278  You  can  not  rival  for  one  hour 

285  .     October's  bright  blue  weather. 

289  Which  month  does  this  stanza  say  is  the  more  pleasant? 

299  April      September      June      May      Cc'tobtr 

(Turn  to  next  page.) 

329 


304  7.    Her  couch  was  dressed  here  and  there  with  some  winter 

314  berries  and  green  leaves,  gathered  in  a  spot  she  had  been  used  to 

327  favor.    "When  I  die,  put  near  me  something  that  has  loved  the 

339  light,  and  had  the  sky  above  it  always." 

347  What  had  the  girl  loved  most? 

353  pretty  clothes       nature       money       candy       to  play 


360  8.            The  boy  stood  on  the  burning  deck, 

367  Whence  all  but  he  had  fled; 

373  The  flame  that  lit  the  battle's  wreck. 

380  Shone  round  him  o'er  the  dead; 

386  Yet  beautiful  and  bright  he  stood, 

392  As  born  to  rule  the  storm, 

398  What  word  best  describes  the  boy? 

404  cowardly      mischievous      brave      young      good 


409  9.  At  every  turn  the  maples  burn, 

415  The  quail  is  whistling  free. 

420  The  partridge  whirrs  and  the  frosted  burrs 

427  Are  dropping  for  you  and  me. 

433  What  season  of  the  year  does  the  stanza  tell  about?    Draw  a 
445            line  under  the  one  you  think. 

451  spring       summer       autumn       winter 


455  10.    Aladdin's  uncle  said:    "I  will  take  a  shop  and  furnish  it 

466  for  you."     Aladdin  was  delighted   with  the   idea,   for   he  thought 

477  there  was  very  little  work  in  keeping  a  shop.     He  liked  that  bet- 

489  ter  than  anything  else. 

493  What  kind  of  a  boy  was  Aladdin? 

500  industrious      ambitious      active      lazy      honest 


505  11.     The  caravan,  stretched  out  upon  the  desert,  was  very  pic- 

514  turesque;  in  motion,  however,  it  was  like  a  lazy  serpent.     By  and 

526  by  its  stubborn  dragging  became  intolerably  irksome  to  Balthasar, 

535  patient  as  he  was. 

539  Place  a  line  under  the  word  which  tells  in  what  respect  the 

551  caravan  resembled  a  serpent. 

555  temper      color     length      motion      size 

(Turn  to  next  page.) 

330 


560  12.     He  was  lying  alone,  one  sunny  spring  day,  on  a  mossy 

571  .bank  beside  the  clear  stream  flowing  past  with  steady,  ceaseless 

581  motion.     He  had  his  book  open  in  his  hand,  but  he  was  not  reading 

595  Draw  a  line  under  the  word  which  tells  why  he  was  not  read- 

607  ing. 

60S  frightened      asleep      hungry      cold      unhappy 


613  13.    As  a  race,  the  Indians  have  withered  from  the  land.    Their 

624  arrows  are  broken,  their  council-fire  has  long  since  gone  out  on  the 

636  shore,  and  their  war  cry  is  fading  to  the  untrodden  West.     Slowly 

648  and  sadly  they  climb  the  distant  mountains,  and  read  their  doom  in 

660  the  setting  sun. 

663  How  do  the  Indians  feel? 

668  happy      angry      excited      sad      tired 


673  14.     In  front  the  purple  mountains  were  rising  up,  a  distant 

683  wall.     Cool  snow  gleamed  upon  the  summits.     Our  horses  suffered 

693  bitterly  for  water.     Five  hours  we  had  ridden  through  all  that  arid' 

705  waste  without  a  pause. 

709  What  kind  of  a  country  had  these  people  been  riding  through"? 

720  mountainous       swampy       desert       forest       valley 


725  15.     Tracking  was  very  difficult.     As  there  was  total  absence  of 

735  rain,  it  was  next  to  impossible  to  distinguish  the  tracks  of  two- 

746  days'  date  from  those  most  recent  upon  the  hard  and- parched  soil. 

758  Draw  a  line  under  the  word  below  that  tells  what  it  was  that 

771  made  tracking  difficult 

774  mud      snow      drouth      rocks      grass 


779  16.     The  soldier  crawled  out  of  the  trench,  where  he  had  spent 

790  the  night.     He  was  covered  with  mud  from  head  to  foot,  and  al- 

802  -most  frozen.     He  looked  around  at  his  companions.     What  a  mis- 

812  enable  lot  they  were! 

816  How  did  the  soldier  feel? 

821  happy      patriotic       brave       angry       downhearted 
826 

331 


Te«t  No.  1— ADDITION 


No. 

Right 



7862 

6809 

8941 

5917 

6772 

7864 

1249 

5013 

7623 

7910 

4814 

6028 

7883 

$975 

1761 

5299 

9845 

9007 

6535 

8240 

9005 

5872 

6601 

8522 

6975 

2340 

9869 

1573 

3739 

3496 

1046 

1227 

2319 

6794 

3203 

8758 

2462 

1247 

4319 

6794 

3293 

7917 

2350 

9869 

3573 

2358 

5420 

7805 

4304 

3197 

4572 

1081 

5795 

4570 

7642 

9027 

2338 

6420 

7805 

4314 

8028 

7803 

9975 

5917 

6772 

9864 

1249 

8758 

2462 

1247 

Test  No.  2- 

-MULTIPLICATION 

5718 

No. 

6942 

Right  .... 

4857 

4065 

36 

92 

58 

47 

9625 

6123 

7486 

9027 

23 

64 

75 

89 

1253 

5376 

3786 

5492 

38 

'76 

49 

53v 

8246 

5739 

7593 

2648 

29 

85 

64 

27 

332 


Test  No.  3— DIVISION 

No.  Risht 


41)574       79)36893      32)384       58)27608 


84)1932      98)46844      21)966       68)31824 


42)546       96)56064      73)6278      28)21980 


52)624       89)25365      23)713       76)36708 


31)2263       48)32304      51)918       67)39932 


333 


Test  No.  4— SUBTRACTION 

No.  Risrht 


739      1852      975     1087      516      962 
367      948      906      821      239      325 


508      1371     1284      730     1853      897 
447      843      966      508      162      258 


1910      735     1056      877     1190      619 
361      478      591      618      739      257 


831      954     1077     1328     939     1316 
360      483      704      872      654      827 


Test  No.  5— ADDITION  AND  SUBTRACTION  OF  FRACTIONS 

No.  Right _^~-  X  2  =  ._ 


Ill'  3         2  13 

6  3         /*-  4  5  6  5 


2       7.      ,y 


5         2  2  1 

7        7°  32 


1  ,:  3  1  3  1 

2  «    /'  4  3  4  2 


2  3  12  3  2 

7 "  T "  7s  47 


4         7  5  3  4  3 

7        10  ""  6  5  7  5 

334 


T«t  No.  6— MULTIPLICATION  AND  DIVISION  OF  FRACTIONS 

X  2=_.. 

2  3 

—  X  — 

3  4 


2  3 
—  X  — 
5         4 


4  5 

—  X  — 

15         8 


4          2 

7   ^  3 

- 

5         3 
—  X  —  - 
12         5 

1         3 
—  X  — 

3         8 

- 

7         4 
12         9 

Z         8 
3         9 

OS 

7          4 
—  X  —  = 
12         7 

1          1 

—  X  — 

3         2 

= 

1          1 

4     '    ~6 

2         3 

5     '     7 

= 

1          3 

—  X  —  - 
6         10 

Tert  No.  7— DECIMAL  FRACTIONS 

No.  Right ■_. 


03)162  Ans.:  54 

.06)744  Ans.:  124 

.02)  144  Ans.:  72 

.03)47.4  Ans.:   158 

.09)5.76  Ans.:  64" 

02)748  Ans.:  374 

09)94.5  Ans-  105 

.04)9.84  Am.:  246 


X  2  = 


07)1.82  Ans.  r  26 

.08)952  Ans.:  119 

.08)40.8  Ans.:  51 

.07)8.61  Ans.:  123 

.04)348  -Ans.  i  87 

.03)89.1  Ans.:  297 

.01)5.48  Ans.:  548 

.07)238  Ans:  34 
335 


.05).415  Ans.:  83 

.04)87.6  Ans.:  219 

.09)3.42  Ans.:  38 

.05).  965  Ans.:  193 

.06)51.0  Ans.:  85 

.05)6.85  Ans.:  137 

06):288  Ans.:  48 

.08)44.8  Ans. :  56 


INDEX 


Abstraction,  128,  295  ff. 

Adolescence,  56,  252,  254,  258. 

After-image,    75  ff. 

Age,   Mental,   233  ff. 

Ana'   sis,  11,  67,  92,  127,  128,  202. 

Angell,  J.  R.,  16,  21,  22,  31,  40, 

64,  85,  126,  138,  177,  192. 
Apperception,  103. 
Arithmetic,  Chapt.   19,  332  ff. 
Association,  111  ff.,  116,  147,207 

ff.,  215,  217,  271. 
Association  areas,  32,  33,  215. 
Attention,  60  ff.,  160  ff.,  251,  259 

ff. 
Attitude,  Chapt.  10,  183. 
Automatic  action,  42. 

Bagley,  W.  C,  16,  138,  251,  261, 

263. 
Baldwin,   B.   T.,  249. 
Basal   ganglia,   21,   28,   29. 
Behavior,  4  ff.,  9,  17,  39,  41  ff. 
Biology,  4. 
Blind-spot,    90. 
Bonser,  F.  G.,  306. 
Bronner,  A.  F.,  244. 
Brown,   H.   A.,   237. 
Bryan  and  Harter,  202  ff. 
Burk,    F.,    257. 
Butler,   N.,  316. 

Cerebellum,  18,   19,   20. 
Cerebrum,  18,  19,  35,  36. 
Chadsey,  C.  E.,  vii. 
Child   psychology,   10. 
Choice,  184  ff. 
Color,   72  ff. 

Colvin,  S.  S.,  16,  64,  105. 
Collections,  257. 
Conception,  Chapt.   7. 


Conductivity,  5,  309. 
Consciousness,    3,   6,   40,   42,   58, 

180,  183,  310  ff. 
Constructiveness,    56  ff . 
Contractility,  5,  309. 
Cook  and  O'Shea,   284. 
Corman. 

Corpora  quadrigemina,  18,  19,  20. 
Cortex,  24,  30,  39. 
Counting,    296  ff. 
Crus,  18,  19,  20. 
Culture  epoch,   250  ff . 
Curiosity,  51  ff. 

Dearborn,  W.  F. 

Deduction,    146  ff. 

Deliberation,  186  ff. 

Desire,  187  ff. 

Development,  Bodily,  247. 

Development,  Mental,  Chapt.   15. 

Dewey,  J.,  138,  141,  150,  159. 

Discipline,   226. 

Distribution,    Curve    of,    230  ff., 

276. 
Distribution  of  learning  periods, 

211  ff. 
Drill,  62,  207  ff.,  283,  301,  303. 

Education,   13,  39,  40. 
Emotion,   114,   171  ff.,   179. 
Environment,  3  ff.,  13  ff.,  66,  310 

ff. 
Explanation,  11  ff. 
Eye-movements,  267  ff. 

Fear,    49  ff. 

Feeling,  48,  171  ff.,  179. 
Formal   training,  Chapt.   13. 
Freeman,  F.  N.,  40,  150,  228,  244, 

276,  291,   294,   307. 
Frequency,   113,  207  ff. 


337 


338 


INDEX 


Gestures,    153  ff. 
Gray  matter,  24,  26. 
Gustatory  sense,  72  ff. 

Habit,  58  ff.,  98  ff.,  193. 
Hall,  G.  S.,  105,  251. 
Hearing,    78  ff. 
Henmon,  V.  A.  C,  241. 
Hypnosis,    135  ff. 

Idea,  179  ff.,  202  ff.,  315. 

Ideals,   188. 

Ideo-motor,  181  ff. 

Illusion,     87 'ff.,     100  ff.,     196  ff., 

226  ff. 
Image,  107  ff.,  130,  229. 
Imagination,   104,  Chapt.  6,  139, 

144  ff. 
Imitation,   52  ff,    157. 
Individual      differences,       118  ff, 

Chapt.  14,  273  ff,  281. 
Induction,   146  ff. 
Infancy,  37,   38,   316. 
Inhibition,  180  ff.,  189. 
Instinct,  44  ff.,  156,  313. 
Intelligence,   35,   36,   38,   232   ff., 

320  ff. 
Intelligence  quotient,   234. 
Interest,    166  ff.,   251. 
Introspection,  9,   15. 
Involuntary    action,    42,     178  ff., 

185  ff. 

James,  W.,   40,  62,  63,   64,   150, 

184,  220  ff. 
Judd,  C.  H.,  vii.  23,  40,  64,  67,  69, 

79,  85,  100,  105,  125,  138,  159, 
177,  194,  227,  228,  263,  271, 
275,  277,  307. 

Kirkpatrick,   E.   A.,   253  ff.,   262. 
Klapper,  P.,  277. 
Kruse,  C.  F.,  vii. 

Language,   119,   128,   131,   Chapt. 

9,  315  ff. 
Learning,    110,    172,    Chapt.    12, 

313  ff. 
Learning  curve,  196  ff. 

MacDougall,  W.,  40. 
Meaning,    89,   91,    127  ff.,   272. 


Medulla,  18,  19,  20. 

Memory,  Chapt.  6,  135,  139,  209, 

ff.,  220,  261  ff.,  314. 
Mental  processes,  3,  7,  8. 
Mental  set,  114  ff. 
Meumann,    E.,    106,    126,    222  ff., 

259. 
Monroe,  W.  S.,  239,  274. 
Motor   areas,   31,   32. 
Muscular  sensations,  84  ff. 

Natural  signs,   152  ff. 
Nervous   impulse,    18. 
Nervous  System,  Chapt.  2. 
Neurone,  22,  23,  24,  37,  59. 
Number  form,   121. 

Observation,   169  ff.,   197  ff.,   280. 
Olfactory  sense,  82  ff. 
Organization,  27,  41,  42. 
Overlapping,   234  ff. 
Ownership,   57,    257  ff. 

Perception,  66,  67,  Chapt.  5,  195 

ff. 
Pillsbury,  W.  B.,  16,  85,  126,  150, 

177,  194. 
Plateau,  204  ff. 
Play,  53  ff.,   258,  259. 
Pons,  18,  19,  20. 
Psychology,  definition  of,  3,  4. 

Reading,  Chapt.  16,  328  ff. 

Reasoning,  Chapt.  8,  262  ff.,  305. 

Recall,   217. 

Recency,    112,   272. 

Reflex  action,  35,  43. 

Repetition,  207  ff.,  271. 

Retina,  69. 

Rhythm,    292  ff. 

Rivalry,  57  ff. 

Rolando,  30,  32. 

Royce,  J.,  8. 

Rugg,  H.  A.,  223  ff. 

Rules,  284. 

Saturation,   77. 

Self,  134  ff.,  188  ff. 

Sensation,  35,   Chapt.  4,  74,  86, 

89. 
Sensitivity,  5,  309. 


INDEX 


339 


Sensori-motor  arc,  24,  26,  33,  34, 

35,  41,  42. 
Sensory  areas,  30,  31,  32. 
Skin-sensations,   84. 
Space,  92  ff. 
Specialization,  6. 
Spelling,  Chapt.  17,  59. 
Spinal  cord,  18,  24,  27. 
Spontaneous,  164  ff. 
Stages  of  development,  250  ff. 
Starch,    D.,    228,    236,    246,   277, 

285,  307. 
Static  Sense,  82. 
Stimulus,  17. 
Stout,   G.  F.,   85,   159,   177,   187, 

194. 
Study,  149. 
Subconsciousness,  137. 
Suggestion,  191. 
Suzzallo,  H.,   285,  307. 
Sylvius,    30. 
Synapse,  23,  27,  42,  59. 

Tachistoscope,   264  ff. 
Tallying,   297. 
Tapping,   256  ff. 
Teaching,  12,  40. 


Telegraphy,  2D2  ff. 

Terman,  L.  M.,  232. 

Tests,  233  ff.,  320  ff. 

Thalamus,  18. 

Thinking,  Chapt.  8,  213,  302. 

Thorndike,  E.  C,  17,  25,  64,  228, 

241,  294. 
Threshold,  208  ff. 
Thompson,   M.   E.,   294. 
Tidyman,  W.  F.,  285. 
Trial   and   error,    198  ff.,    286  ff., 

313  ff. 

Unity,  86,  92. 

Vision,  67  ff. 
Vividness,    113  ff.,    271. 
Voluntary    action,    137,    165, 
Chapt.   11. 

Waddle,  C.  W.,  159,  263. 

Whipple,  G.  M.,  105. 

White  matter,  26. 

Whole  and  part  learning,   214  ff. 

Will,  186,  193,  209  ff. 

Writing,  278,  Chapt.  18. 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


APR  3  0  1934 

CHAY  1  4  1334 

UN  1  0  193* 

JUL  23 

5     « 
'  JAN  3  1  1939 

W27jS« 

F  >rm  L-9-35wi-8,'28 

1051 

4 Car-"  ror.  - 

Psychology  snd  th- 

school  . 


■ — i 


a 


(XivJcLB. 


uuy  504  031    7 


C/f 


RNIA 
RY 

S,  CALIF. 


